Is Workplace Bullying a Conflict? Examples from Norwegian lawsuits

The last decades have shown Norway playing a key role in the huge amount of international research on workplace bullying. Nevertheless, there is still some confusion concerning terms and definitions. The article reasons that this shows a need for exploratory studies on real-life cases, based on neutral sources. It focuses on the impact of viewing workplace bullying as a conflict. The article first addresses some different approaches among researchers and then analyses three transcripts from the Norwegian Appeal Court to illustrate the issue. The cases show that the term 'conflict' may encompass bullying in some sense, but this labelling can also be misleading and an obstacle in understanding the situation, especially from the victims' angle. The article concludes that there is probably no way to evade the word 'conflict' in such a context. Nevertheless, those dealing with bullying cases should be aware what their conflict perceptions imply.