Bullying, disability and work: a case study of workplace bullying

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to present a case study of a woman diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS) who was bullied out of her workplace.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper commences with a narrative about our protagonist, Miranda (a pseudonym), before offering some important contextual theoretical information, including: a discussion of employment concerns for people with disability generally, and for those with MS in particular, and of workplace bullying. Miranda's experiences are then shared as an intrinsic and particularistic case study of her experiences of being bullied following her disclosure of MS at her workplace.

Findings

Recommendations are made for further research into the potential problems of the workplace experiences of people with disability as a result of learning from the particularities of Miranda's individual case, as well as how this case study has illuminated a potentially much wider and previously unexamined problem of workplace bullying of people with disability.

Originality/value

The author is unable to find any other research studies that examine the phenomenon of workplace bullying of people with disability in general, or people with MS in particular.

Citation

Vickers, M.H. (2009), "Bullying, disability and work: a case study of workplace bullying", Qualitative Research in Organizations and Management, Vol. 4 No. 3, pp. 255-272. https://doi.org/10.1108/17465640911002536