The Moment of Truth in Workplace Mobbing: In honor of Qingli Meng

Abstract

This paper adds a new concept, “moment of truth,” to the vocabulary for studying workplace mobbing. It begins with identification of key turning points in two mobbing cases. It then identifies six similarities between them: (a) escalation of hostility to a higher threshold; (b) hostile communication from a collective of workmates, not just an individual; (c) senders’ obvious intention to remove the target with finality; (d) accusation not just of inadequacy but of moral turpitude; (e) official indictment calling for formal punishment; and (f) in sum, compelling evidence that a full-blown mobbing is underway. For choosing a name for this turning point in the mobbing process, this paper relies on Emily Godbey’s discussion of Francisco Goya’s depictions of the Spanish bullfight. It relies also on Ernest Hemingway’s 1932 book about the bullfight, Death in the Afternoon, from which the term, “moment of truth,” is taken. The relation between the new concept and existing terms in the research literature is explained, and the concept is applied briefly to the cases of Hector Hammerly, Ricardo Duchesne, and Justine Sergent.