According to one study cited in the Harvard Business Review, men tend to be equal opportunity bullies — targeting men and women about equally. Not so with women, who target other women in more than seven out of every 10 instances.

Some other findings:

• Instances of verbal abuse are more commonly committed by men (57%) than women (41%), but
• Women (54%) are more likely than men (41%) to engage in more subtle forms of bullying, such as sabotaging another’s work, and
• Women (50%) are more likely than men (45%) to abuse their authority over subordinates.

The study goes on to issue a warning to HR managers: Left unchecked, bullying becomes the norm as a business culture. That is, managers and subordinates begin to think of bullying as a standard way of doing business. And in such environments, productivity invariably goes down and turnover goes up.

Which of course leads to the question:  Why do women pick on other women? Workplace psychologists have at least three theories:

Scarcity. As women advance, the number of spots available to them at the top of the workplace pyramid tends to tighten. When that happens, the bullying begins.

The boot camp. Many women believe they’ve struggled on their own to “make it” against the odds, so why give a lift to someone else? Let them struggle, too.

Reverse favoritism. Some women who are in positions of authority fear they’ll be viewed as too sympathetic to other women. The result: The women in authority tend to overcompensate and go rougher on other women.

HR’s new function: Standing up to workplace bullies. What used to be considered a good idea may now become law. 

And here’s the big problem: Someone is going to have to referee and figure out who’s a bully and who’s just a big pain in the butt who should be ignored. In short, you may have to play Civility Cop. That’s the assessment of attorneys who are looking at the proposed anti-bullying legislation, which in effect demands that employees play nice with one another.

Let’s look at the type of scenario that could pop up:

A white manager supervises a black employee. The white manager is a crusty type who criticizes the black employee in public, maybe even loudly uses insults like “stupid” and “lazy.” Under anti-discrimination laws, the black employee had no legal recourse — the law doesn’t demand that managers be civil to their employees.

But under proposed legislation, the employee could charge with manager with bullying — and charge the company with allowing it, unless you step in.

Start now
Your best bet: Start now to head off any bullying charges. For instance –

• Have policies in place that make it clear bullying behaviors will not be tolerated.
• If you have an employee handbook, emphasize in it that workers must treat each other with respect.
• Encourage employees who feel bullied to report the conduct, just as they would report charges of harassment or discrimination, and investigate those complaints seriously.
• If an investigation warrants it, take appropriate action.

Here are the states that are looking at anti-bullying legislation:

• California
• Connecticut
• Hawaii
• Kansas
• Massachusetts
• Missouri
• Montana
• New Jersey
• New York
• Oklahoma
• Oregon
• Vermont
• Washington

 And here’s sample legislation from New York.

Being the victim of a workplace bully is serious business. Courts recognize that, and so should employers, since the damages paid for bullying incidents have run into six figures.

Clinical psychologist Joni Johnston recommends that you ask four key questions when you’re interviewing someone who might be slotted for a supervisory job:

What’s your management philosophy?

Tell me about a time when you had to deal with an employee who didn’t follow orders. What did you do?

If you had an employee with personal problems, how would you deal with that situation?

Give me an example of a time when you were angry with a co-worker. What did you do?

There’s no one answer that will scream, “He’s a bully!” But if the answer to any of the questions sets off an alarm in your head, trust your instincts. You’re probably dealing with someone who has tendencies to bully others.