Relational Harm in Organizational Life
Relational Harm in Organizational Life
Understanding how interpersonal treatment and relational dynamics shape harm at work
Understanding how interpersonal treatment and relational dynamics shape harm at work
This initiative focuses on the forms of relational and interpersonal harm that occur in everyday organizational life—harm that emerges through how people treat one another, how power is exercised in relationships, and how dignity is maintained or eroded in routine interactions. These experiences may be subtle or overt, patterned or isolated, but all have consequences for trust, wellbeing, belonging, and ethical organizational life.
A significant amount of harm in organizations does not come through formal misconduct or policy violations. It comes through interpersonal transactions: exclusion, humiliation, credibility undermining, retaliatory behavior, degrading communication, or consistent signals that some people matter less than others.
Employees frequently describe these experiences as “hard to report but impossible to ignore.” While they may not always rise to the level of psychological injury, they often set the stage for deteriorating wellbeing, fractured relationships, and lost trust.
Relational harm is a workplace ethics issue—not because it is always dramatic, but because it shapes the very conditions under which people can work, speak up, collaborate, and be seen as fully human in their roles.
This initiative examines the forms of relational and interpersonal harm that occur in everyday organizational life — harm that emerges through how people treat one another, how power is exercised in relationships, and how dignity is either supported or eroded in routine interactions. Some forms of harm are subtle; others are unmistakably overt. These patterns can be isolated or sustained, quiet or visible, but all shape people’s experience of safety, belonging, trust, agency, and wellbeing at work.
We analyze how relational patterns emerge, how they are reinforced or normalized, and how they influence the relational fabric of organizational life. Just as importantly, this initiative explores how everyday interactions can also uphold dignity, enable voice, and support psychological wellbeing — even in challenging or highpressure environments. Understanding these relational dynamics allows organizations to better see where harm accumulates, where relationships fracture, and where healthy treatment practices can be strengthened.
Equanimity in the workplace as a harm repair strategy
Exploring types of transgressors: performers and predators
Workplace violence and job dissatisfaction
Ambiguous harm in the workplace
Workplace honesty-humility and employee deviance behaviors
Positive deviance behaviors: The dissonance when employees harm organizations ‘for the greater good’
Do you have a workplace experience that left you feeling harmed, mistreated, dismissed, or shaken? We want to hear from you.
Workplace experiences shape our lives—sometimes in ways that uplift us, and sometimes in ways that leave lasting harm. If you’ve experienced mistreatment, ethical breaches, gaslighting, retaliation, workplace violence, moral injury, betrayal, psychological trauma, or any form of harmful workplace behavior, we welcome you to share your story with us.
Your experiences help us better understand the realities employees face and guide our research toward the issues that matter most.
Your Privacy Matters
We do not collect names, emails, or any identifying information.
You are asked to create a pseudonym (a fake name) to protect your identity.
Please avoid including:
Real names
Company names
Specific locations
Details that could reveal your identity or someone else’s
How Your Story Will Be Used
Your submission is voluntary and may be used to inform ongoing research themes, identify emerging patterns, and help shape future studies conducted by Workplace EthiX Lab. Stories may be quoted anonymously in academic writing or public-facing summaries, but never in a way that reveals who you are.
This is not a clinical service, reporting mechanism, or emergency resource.
If you are currently experiencing harm or feel unsafe at work, please reach out to local support resources.
Why Your Voice Matters
Workplace harm—whether subtle or severe—often goes unseen, unreported, or dismissed. By sharing your experience, you contribute to a deeper understanding of how organizations can prevent harm, protect dignity, and support healing. Your story becomes part of a collective effort to make work a place where people are treated with humanity and respect.
Submit Your Story