4

SABOTEURS, HARASSERS, OFF-LOADERS, AND THUNDER STEALERS

Gaslighters in the Workplace

GASLIGHTERS DON’T JUST WREAK HAVOC IN OUR PERSONAL LIVES. They have destroyed many careers and companies. They manipulate coworkers and subordinates into doing work for them, then take credit. They make false claims of harassment when they, in fact, are the harassers. (In fact, I think it’s safe to say that most if not all harassment is a form of gaslighting.) They throw coworkers under the bus. They refuse to take any responsibility for their behavior. It is one thing to mess with your personal life—it is quite another to encounter someone hell bent on taking down your professional life.

As of this writing, a wave of women has come forward with charges of sexual harassment in the workplace—and they are finally being believed. Numerous celebrities and public figures are facing allegations of workplace harassment. In this chapter, you will learn how to identify a workplace gaslighter, protect yourself and your career, and figure out ways to avoid ever working with a gaslighter again. You’ll also read more about gaslighting and sexual harassment, abuse, and violence in Chapter 5.

“My coworker would be on-call but would refuse to answer the phone. This meant clients would call me instead. I talked to higher-ups about it, but he had some damaging info on the boss, so he got away with it.”

—Juan, 40

How do you know you work with a gaslighter? You may witness the following behaviors:

Takes credit for your hard work

Gives you backhanded compliments

Ridicules you in front of your coworkers

Blames everything on you

Knows your weak spot and exploits it

Actively tries to get you demoted or fired

Lies to get ahead

Seems to compete with everyone to be “the best” at work

Spreads gossip about you, and denies doing it when you confront her

Sabotages your work

Gives you the wrong times and dates for important meetings

Pressures you to do something unethical

Is jealous of your accomplishments instead of congratulating you

Shows displays of anger when things don’t go her way

Bullies and threatens you and others

Sexually harasses you and others

Gaslighters can make even the least stressful of jobs into a total nightmare. Their scheming, sabotaging, and one-upping never seem to stop. When they are caught in disrespectful or harmful behavior by an employer, gaslighters seem to double down and actually increase their maladaptive behavior. Some may calm the storm for just a brief period of time before resuming their gaslighting ways. Very rarely do gaslighters stop their manipulative behaviors. As you read earlier in the book, many gaslighters are so lacking in self-awareness that they don’t see their bad behavior. They truly believe that everyone else has the problem, not them.

“It didn’t matter what the project was about—this guy would take credit for everything. Not only that, he would tell the boss that we were slackers and he had to make up for our incompetence. He went the extra mile.”

—Doug, 55

SEXUAL AND OTHER HARASSMENT IN THE WORKPLACE

Gaslighters use harassment as a way to gain control over you and over their workplace. They’re betting that by harassing you, you’ll stay quiet about the other bad behaviors they’re engaging in at work.

“My coworker would brush his hand against my butt as he walked by, and say ‘excuse me’ like it was an accident. He was really slick when he did it, so no one saw it. I was going to report it, but I was concerned he would just say I was lying. What proof did I have?”

—Lydia, 28

One type of harassment is sexual harassment. The US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) defines sexual harassment as “unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical harassment of a sexual nature” (EEOC 2017).

You may be the victim of sexual harassment if:

You are told your job or an assignment depends on sexual activity.

You are watched intensely for no reason.

A person blocks your exit from your office or cubicle.

You get leers as you walk by.

You get catcalls or “You need to smile” comments.

Someone in a higher or more influential position asks you out.

You are being retaliated against for refusing advances.

Pictures or messages of a sexual nature are posted on your locker.

Other forms of harassment include:

Employees playing “pranks” on you.

Your items are continually removed and then replaced on your desk.

Employees tampering with your food in the office refrigerator.

Your locker is broken into.

Having your personal items hidden from you.

Unauthorized employees entering your workspace without permission.

While most gaslighters don’t take their workplace behavior to the level where it qualifies legally as harassment, some do, and this is especially true when you are working in an environment that appears to reward bad behavior. For example, while there’s nothing wrong, at least on the face of it, with an employer’s use of incentives to increase productivity, this provides a perfect setup for gaslighters. They’ll do whatever they feel is necessary to gain an advantage over others, and this includes devious and damaging behavior. In some areas of the business world, being ruthless earns a gaslighter respect, but this is really nothing more than fear of the gaslighter disguised as respect. In this section, we’ll take a look at where aggressive work habits actually constitute harassment, and the steps you can take to fight it.

“I had a boss that would stand and watch me as I worked. This wasn’t just watching—it was leering. It was really creepy. Towards the end of the day when there were less people in the office, I started feeling unsafe and would bolt out of there.”

—Marisol, 36

According to the EEOC, harassing behavior rises to the level of unlawful when an employee has to put up with the harassing behavior as a condition of staying in the job, or if the harassment is so severe or so encompassing that a reasonable person would find it intimidating, abusive, or hostile.

You don’t have to be the direct target of the behavior for it to qualify as harassment. If another person’s behavior toward a coworker has impacted your ability to do your job or stay at your place of employment, you may still qualify legally as being harassed.

Harassment is about power. It is about “keeping you in your place.” Gaslighters love to hold power over people’s head. They especially thrive on knowing that your livelihood—your work—hangs in the balance.

Gaslighters can be very subtle in their harassment—just enough to get to you but not quite enough to prove. Many harassment cases end up coming down to a “he said, she said” situation, one person’s word against the other. For that reason, and concerns about retaliation, many cases of harassment are never even filed, let alone resolved.

Also, when you first encounter harassment, it is very common to feel so in shock that you doubt yourself or your perception of the experience. Did so-and-so really just say what I thought he said? Maybe he didn’t mean it the way it came across. If you have lived with a gaslighter, and particularly if you were raised by one, you will be even more likely to question your sense of reality. You were trained early on to disbelieve your own eyes and ears, so of course you automatically question your experience.

Start to believe it. If it walks like harassment and talks like harassment, sexual or otherwise, it is most likely harassment!

LAWS THAT PROTECT YOU

In the United States, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 protects you from workplace discrimination based on:

Age

Gender

Religion

Race

Culture

National origin

“Oh, I got the classic, ‘So-and-so told me that your work is terrible.’ Oh good, then so-and-so can come to me directly and tell me that. Until then, not my problem.”

—Josh, 28

Harassment, including sexual harassment, in the workplace also violates Title VII.

Here’s one of the tricky things about Title VII. If you work for a smaller company, you may be out of luck. Title VII only applies to businesses with fifteen or more employees or to local, state, or federal agencies. According to Title VII, it is illegal to be retaliated against in the workplace for reporting harassment. Remember, you do not have to be the direct target of the harassment to have a valid claim. Anyone in the workplace affected by the behavior of the harasser—if he has created what we’d call a climate of intimidation—can file a harassment claim. Even if you appeared to others to have accepted the behavior at the time, you have the right to challenge behavior that is intimidating and uninvited.

In addition to Title VII protections, there may be laws in your state that protect you from harassment and discrimination. You should be able to find them through a quick Internet search. Knowing your rights is the first right step in protecting yourself from this sort of behavior and shifting the burden to the harasser to prove his or her innocence. Educating yourself is one of the most powerful steps you can take to combat gaslighters and their harassment.

Steps You Can Take

If you are being harassed, the EEOC, which protects workers’ rights, recommends following a series of steps. You have the right (and it is even encouraged) to contact an attorney during this process. For information on how to find legal services, see the Resources section at the end of this book.

“My coworker would call me racial slurs, and would do it with a smile and in a sweet tone of voice. It still gives me chills thinking about it. I told him to stop, and he kept going. I even told my boss. Nothing happened. I didn’t know what to do next. I was worried about losing my job if I pushed it further.”

—Dan, 35

First, the EEOC recommends contacting the gaslighter directly about his behavior. You have the option of doing this in person, or in writing. If it is in person, consider having a witness present. As you have learned, gaslighters are very adept at twisting the truth. What happened between you and the gaslighter will certainly not be the story the gaslighter reports to others. Having a witness backs up your version of events.

Contacting the gaslighter through writing is a way to create a paper or electronic trail. It is difficult for the gaslighter to lie about what you said when it is right there in an e-mail. While confronting the gaslighter may be very uncomfortable to you, it puts the gaslighter on notice and will help you build a case if the harassment continues.

For a harassment claim to succeed, you must prove that the behavior is unwelcome, and the fact that you notified the harasser is considered proof. Even if you did not call out the behavior when it occurred or at some later point, you still have the right to tell the harasser it was unwelcome. It may have been that you were surrounded by coworkers at the time and did not raise any objections due to some perceived social pressure. You may have laughed it off because you felt really uncomfortable. You may have tried to ignore it so as to better concentrate on your work. In any case, now you are telling the gaslighter to stop.

“I co-owned a business with a guy that was a total gaslighter. He told our customers that I was ‘mentally unstable’ and to just come to him for their accounts. Finally, one of the customers said to me, ‘I get the feeling you don’t know about this.…’ and told me the whole story. I sold my part of the business and got out.”

—Wade, 60

Keep documentation of when you spoke to the gaslighter, including the date, time, if anyone else was present, and direct quotes of what you said, and also how the harasser responded (see here for more about documentation). If you feel your safety is at risk by contacting the harasser directly, start by filing a complaint with your company’s human resources department.

If the harassment does not stop, or you fear for your safety with the gaslighter and don’t feel it is in your best interest to contact him directly, use grievance procedures available in your workplace. This is also known as “filing a complaint” or “filing a formal complaint.” If you have an employee handbook, see whether there is a section regarding grievances. You can also ask the human resource department how to file a harassment or discrimination claim.

Follow these instructions exactly as they are written or told to you. It always helps to have them in writing. Always, always keep a copy of whatever you turn in. When you file a formal complaint at your workplace, you are putting your employer on alert that there is an issue. You are also giving the company an opportunity to rectify or fix this issue. You are using this formal route of complaint because if you have to take your case to court, your ability to hold the company responsible depends on whether the company knew about the harassment and took steps to solve it. The company is now liable (responsible) for making things right.

If the harassment still continues, or your complaint was not remedied to your satisfaction, there are steps you must take before filing a lawsuit under federal law. First, you must file what is called a “charge of discrimination” with the EEOC or your state employment protection department. If you don’t file this important charge, your lawsuit may be dismissed. A charge of discrimination can be filed at your regional, state, or local EEOC office. Your state laws determine how long a period of time you have from the harassment to when you file the charge. Usually the limit is 180 days.

After you file, an EEOC staff member will interview you and determine whether your employer violated Title VII. If the staff member feels your complaint has merit, she will fill out a Charge of Discrimination form and give it to you to read and sign. The EEOC will then interview your employer and either drop your complaint, investigate your complaint, or request a mediation or settlement between you and your employer.

It is very rare that the EEOC will file a lawsuit on your behalf. Instead, it will issue you a “right to sue” letter. This then means you can file a lawsuit. You have a short period of time in which to file your lawsuit after receiving this letter—about ninety days. If you have not already retained an attorney, the EEOC highly recommends that you do so.

For more information on Title VII and contacting the EEOC, see the Resources section at the end of this book.

WHAT DOESN’T CONSTITUTE HARASSMENT?

Sometimes it can be hard to tell the difference between harassment and normal human behavior. If you get a sinking or repulsed feeling by someone’s behavior toward you, you are probably being harassed. However, in and of itself, the following events do not constitute harassment:

Being complimented on your outfit

Being told you look nice today

Being asked out on a date when that person is your equal at the office

Being told there are some areas of your work performance that may need improvement

Being asked to meet with your employer about a concern

If you do experience these things, and they come from a person who has been told to stay away from you or has a history of bothering you or other employees, it does constitute harassment.

GASLIGHTERS AS SUPERVISORS

Gaslighting is not just the behavior of “losers.” Plenty of people in powerful positions are gaslighters, too. You may have a supervisor who gaslights you. Gaslighters know how to manipulate and work the system. They ride to the top by lying about their accomplishments, and they succeed on other people’s hard work. They may have even blackmailed a person or persons to get promoted. They also are more likely to use sexual favors for promotions. Gaslighters can also be as good at a job as other people. This may be one of the most frustrating parts of having a gaslighter boss—they are actually competent at what they do, making it more difficult to get them fired.

Here are some signs to watch out for.

They Will Watch You as You Work

Supervisors who observe you as you work is nothing new, but gaslighters will do it to extremes and in unsavory ways. You may find that your gaslighting supervisor watches you much more than he does your coworkers. You may also find that he hangs around you a little too closely when there are fewer employees around. He may even try to isolate you from your peers.

This “watching” crosses into leering—looking at you in a way that makes you feel uncomfortable. You have the right to say loudly, “Please back up.” This makes it known to others in the office that this person is behaving inappropriately—and it also creates witnesses. Gaslighters will back off if they know others may see them as less than perfect. Their image is everything.

Gaslighting Supervisors Can Gang Up

Gaslighters will sometimes band together and gang up on you. Even people who aren’t typically gaslighters will join in. This is known as “crowd psychology.” We are more likely to engage in a behavior when others are—even if it is against our beliefs. Group behavior is contagious, and can make us feel less responsible for our actions. An employer may also put pressure on supervisors to gaslight employees.

“I loved my job—and I was good at it. But I didn’t count on an effort by my bosses to get me fired. They were setting up situations where it looked like I wasn’t doing my job. Like they would tell the higher-ups that I refused to work on something, and they had never even talked to me about it. I was starting to wonder if they had asked me and I just forgot. But then I started writing down exactly what they said to me. They were just lying. I had enough one day and walked out. Not one of my bosses was willing to ‘break ranks’ and say enough is enough.”

—Amber, 28

They Review You Poorly, Despite the Evidence

If your gaslighting boss calls you into a performance review meeting, have another supervisor in the room as a witness. If you have an unfavorable and unwarranted evaluation, you can request another performance evaluation from a higher-level supervisor. If asked why, you can just say that you noticed some discrepancies between your work and the evaluation you received. Make sure you show up to the evaluation with documentation of your accomplishments at work. You need to have concrete evidence why the performance evaluation you received was not accurate. Also review your employee manual to see whether there are specific steps your company requires when you feel a performance review is not accurate.

“My supervisors got together and gaslighted me as a group. They all made up false information about my job performance in a quest to get me fired.”

—Jameel, 28

If your gaslighting boss tells you that you need to sign your performance evaluation and you believe the evaluation is damaging or incorrect, you are under no obligation to sign. Performance reviews are company policy, not law. Usually signing the performance review means that you just agree that you received it. However, if you see fine print that says “I agree to the comments and evaluation above,” do not sign it. Your performance evaluation may have a comment box on it. I strongly recommend against leaving written comments on your own evaluation, especially on the spot. Think about what you want to write first. This prevents you from writing something from your emotions rather than from facts. You can send in your comments later.

“My boss told me I’d be a shoo-in for a promotion if I worked on a big project for him. When I finished the work, he just said, ‘thanks’ and walked off. A promotion was never in the picture.”

—Curtis, 40

HARASSMENT AT A UNIVERSITY

Gaslighting goes on in school and university settings just like anywhere else. Professors and teaching assistants can gaslight students or lower-level faculty; students can even gaslight their professors. Remember, gaslighters feed off being in power. If a student earns a C in your class, and you won’t change it to an A, she can tell the department that you stalked her. That’s a form of gaslighting, too.

If you are either a student or an employee at your university and are being harassed, or you know someone who is, you have options. See your student or employee handbook for grievance procedures. Many campuses have an ombudsman. This is a person who acts as a neutral party for students and staff who have complaints about how they have been treated. Usually the ombuds department recommends you directly contact the instructor or dean of the college before seeking its assistance. In addition, you always have the option of calling law enforcement if you have been threatened.

“The TA (teaching assistant) hit on me, and I turned him down. After that he would always ask me the hardest questions in class. He also recorded me as absent when I was in class.”

—Reese, 23

Don’t accept “We’ll talk to him” or “Are you sure you just didn’t misunderstand?” as acceptable responses from your university. You need to see proof that steps have been taken to make sure this behavior doesn’t happen to you or any other student in the future. It is in your best interest to retain an attorney. While many universities take swift action in reports of abuse, there have also been cases where the university dismissed complaints or ignored them altogether. As occurred in the cases of Larry Nassar at Michigan State and Jerry Sandusky at Penn State, reports about abusers are sometimes “swept under the rug” until the accusations are unavoidable—usually when the cases go to trial. Make your voice heard, and hold others accountable.

“I went to my professor’s office about needing to raise my grade, and he told me that maybe I could help him out too. I told him no way. He said that if I ever said anything, we could both be in trouble.”

—Casey, 22

HARASSMENT BY CLIENTS

It’s not just employers and coworkers that can gaslight you; your clients can, too. It can be a real conundrum for professionals when a person who has hired you for help turns on you. Most often such individuals turn on you because you have told them something that they didn’t want to hear, or they owe you money.

Even though you may have confidentiality rules in your profession, that does not mean you aren’t protected from threatening behavior. Once your client has reported you to a professional board, they have chosen to break confidentiality. You also have the right to contact law enforcement and provide a client’s name if he has threatened you.

“A client would order something, then tell my supervisor I didn’t fill the order properly and was rude to her. I see no other reason she did it besides to get a kick out of causing drama.”

—Ken, 36

If you are a mental health professional, one way to reduce bogus complaints from gaslighters is to have your clients pay their full copay or session fee before they can make another appointment. When a gaslighting client owes you money, and it has been adding up, he will try whatever it takes to get out of paying. As you’ve read before, gaslighters like to look as if they have money when they often do not, whether because they have trouble keeping a job or are just very tight with their money (which gaslighters notoriously are).

You may also consider stating in your consent form that if a client has an issue with you, you would like him to come talk to you first. If his concern has not been resolved to his satisfaction, he can then report it to the state licensing board or your credentialing organization. Provide this contact information. Sometimes being transparent about the grievance process reduces complaints.

“My client didn’t want to pay his bill, so he reported me to the Bar for ‘misconduct.’”

—James, 48

Your professional organization can usually refer you to an attorney for pro bono (free) legal advice. Your state licensing board or bar may also have information on your rights when a client harasses you. For more information on your rights as a professional, see the Resources section at the end of this book.

GASLIGHTERS AND WORKPLACE VIOLENCE

While gaslighters tend to try to keep as perfect an image as possible, they also may be more prone to violence due to their tendency to personalize other people’s behavior. When gaslighters “personalize,” they take someone’s behavior toward them as a personal attack. In other words, if you criticize a gaslighter’s work, she’ll feel that her ego has been attacked. Being fired from a job, to a gaslighter, is a personal affront, and there must be retaliation against the employer.

Workplace violence can refer to any of the following behaviors:

Damage to property or sabotage of electronic information

Stalking

Threats of violence

Body-to-body combat (punching, kicking)

The use of weapons (guns, knives, etc.; arson, or bomb threats)

How can you prevent or protect yourself from a gaslighter who may engage in workplace violence?

Report disturbing employee behavior to your employer.

Have a protocol established in the event of workplace violence.

Run drills for the event of workplace violence.

Have a meeting place if you need to evacuate the building.

If your employer doesn’t conduct background checks on employees, nor does it contact employees’ previous employers, request making this a standard practice. Going to your workplace shouldn’t mean that you are an open target.

The Department of Homeland Security offers the following guidelines for what to do if there is an active shooter in your workplace:

First, leave the building as quickly as possible. Leave your belongings behind. Your purse, identification, and credit cards can be replaced—you cannot.

If it is impossible to leave the building, hide. Put your phone on vibrate. Lock the door and put something heavy in front of it, such as a copier machine.

If the active shooter approaches you and you do not have an escape, fight.

In summary, follow these steps: leave, hide, fight. These apply to other forms of workplace violence, such as a knife wielder or an explosion/bomb threat.

Do not leave your safe location unless law enforcement gives the “all clear” for you to do so.

Gaslighters may have a history of law-breaking, use of lethal weapons, abusive behavior, causing fear in others, vindictiveness, stalking, threatening family members of a victim, and a disregard for human life, even before they tip into physical assault.

The signs are so often there, staring at us. We just have to learn to pay attention—and take action when needed and before such gaslighters’ behavior turns violent.

HOW ELSE TO PROTECT YOURSELF

Besides filing a harassment claim, if you work with or for a gaslighter, here are some steps you can take to protect yourself from your colleague’s undermining and sometimes illegal behavior:

Never Be Alone with a Workplace Gaslighter

Always have someone else in the room when you are meeting with a gaslighter. If you cannot find a witness before a meeting, reschedule it. You may feel you are putting your career in jeopardy by rescheduling an important meeting, but your career depends on you not being alone with this person. If a gaslighter follows you into an area where others are not present, leave the space or insist on bringing a coworker in with you. Without witnesses, you are more likely to be sexually harassed, touched inappropriately, or abused. The gaslighter will also lie about what interaction the two of you had. With a witness, gaslighters are more likely to behave appropriately. This is especially true if gaslighters know the witness hasn’t caught on to who they really are. Gaslighters are still invested in the witness’s wanting to idealize them. If you’re alone with a gaslighter and file a complaint about her, the gaslighter will just tell people that you are crazy, or you were hitting on them. As you read earlier in the book, gaslighters know one of the most effective ways to dismiss you is by calling you crazy.

Meet with Your Boss Once a Week

Have a weekly meeting with your boss so you can review projects you are working on, and also update your boss with your progress. Track everything in writing. This way if a gaslighter claims the work was all hers, you have previous notifications to your boss that the work was truly yours. Meeting with your boss on a weekly basis also gives you a chance to air grievances as they happen.

If your boss says he doesn’t believe the gaslighter would do something like this, document that, the date and time and content of his response.

If your boss says you need to work it out with your coworker first, tell him you’ve tried and found the other person volatile, and that trying to work things out seems like it would make it worse. Show him your documentation of what the gaslighter has been doing.

If your gaslighter is the boss, or if you have no superiors or human resources department to turn to, seek legal advice or contact the EEOC. For information on legal services and the EEOC, see the Resources section at the end of this book.

At the very least, ask to move to a different cubicle or office, as far away from the gaslighter as possible.

Do Not Drink at Office Parties

At office parties and other social events related to work, refrain from drinking. Getting even a little bit sloppy will give a gaslighter prime opportunities to victimize you, whether it is by stealing from you, lying about your behavior, or even assaulting you. If you feel you need a drink in your hand to “blend” at the party, get a seltzer water with lime. It looks like a gin and tonic, and no one will be the wiser. If someone does ask you why you’re not drinking, say you’re the designated driver or that you are taking antibiotics and can’t drink. Better yet, say you just don’t feel like it.

Another reason not to drink at the office party is that you may be more tempted or likely to tell the gaslighter off—and this will not end well for you. Remember this. You will never win a fight with gaslighters. They welcome fights—they feed off the energy. Also, if gaslighters make up a story about your “outrageous” behavior toward them at an office party, if you have been drinking it unfortunately adds credibility to their lies.

Document, Document, Document

Keep notes about your interaction with gaslighters. As you read earlier in this chapter, documentation is essential if you need to report their behavior to your employer or the EEOC. If you consult an attorney, you will be asked for documentation. In your documentation, include:

Date of the event

Time of the event

Who was present

What was said (use direct quotes as much as possible)

What behaviors occurred

Keep this information on a personal device, rather than a work-issued one. If you are fired from your job, your device will be taken from you, and now your employer has your documentation. Do not discuss gaslighters’ behavior with others via texts on a work-issued phone, or via workplace e-mail. In addition, keep this documentation password-protected.

Find Employment Elsewhere

One of the most effective ways of distancing yourself from a workplace gaslighter is to change jobs. You may need to leave your employer or, depending on your type of work and size of company, you may be able to transfer to another department or job site or location within the company. While this is by far not the easiest solution, it gets you away from the root of the problem. If you have brought your concerns to your employer and it doesn’t appear that the gaslighter will be demoted or terminated, consider leaving. While this is far from fair, keep in mind that gaslighters continue ramping up their behavior. In other words, it will only get worse.

You may feel that by your quitting or changing your job, a gaslighter has “won.” However, this is not the case. You have won, because you have removed yourself from a toxic environment. A gaslighter in the office can be a result of a system-wide problem. If you followed the company’s guidelines for reporting unwanted behavior and the gaslighter is still working there, that might be proof enough that you work in a toxic work environment. Better to get out than to continue to suffer.

If you are unsure if your rights have been violated, consult with an attorney who specializes in labor law. An attorney can tell you what your workplace rights are and if your experience violates any laws. For more information on your workplace rights, see the Resources section at the end of this chapter.

If You Are an Employer

If you are an employer, check in with your employees on a regular basis. Have a written code of conduct and standard operating procedures (SOPs) regarding harassment in the workplace. Your SOPs should include the steps an employee should take to report harassment, as well as a clear guarantee that there will be no retaliation. Your investigation of a harassment claim should be done immediately after a complaint is filed, and completed in an unbiased way. For more information on how you can protect your company and your employees from harassment and establish guidelines in cases of harassment, see the Resources section in the back of this book, or contact the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

IN THIS CHAPTER, we’ve looked at how gaslighters target others in the workplace, including issues of sexual harassment. In the next chapter, we’ll take a closer look at this and also how gaslighting is often a part of violence and domestic abuse.