Shana Scantlin worked in a city’s public works department, supervised by Jeffrey Brenaman. She quit after about 18 months, and sued the city and Brenaman personally, claiming that he had subjected her to “intimidation, insults, humiliation, work interference, assault, threats of assault, verbal and psychological abuse, and bullying.”
In her lawsuit, Shana asserted that Brenaman had ripped papers from her hand while screaming at her, stopping only when the Police Chief came in and intervened; slammed doors repeatedly, including once in her face; yelled so severely at her while she was on the telephone that customers asked if she was all right; repeatedly talked over her and told her to be quiet; and stormed around upset. After one of Brenaman’s tantrums, Shana’s co-worker said she was terrified that Brenaman was going to come back with a gun. Shana and her co-worker complained to the mayor, but Brenaman continued with his abusive and bullying conduct.
The city was dismissed from the case based on sovereign immunity (Generally, a person cannot sue the government without its permission), but not Brenaman. He is going to have to face a jury on the question of whether his bullying behavior gave Shana “a reasonable apprehension of imminent harmful or offensive conduct and whether this was Brenaman’s intent.”
Highfill v. Scantlin, 2025 Ark. App. 242 (Apr. 23, 2025)
What this means to you:
According to a 2024 survey by the Workplace Bullying Institute, 32% of Americans reported being directly bullied at work—that’s more than 50 million workers. Like harassment, workplace bullying—behavior that threatens, intimidates, degrades, offends, or humiliates—is an abuse of power. Like harassment, bullying and other abusive conduct hurt employee well-being, decrease productivity, depress morale, reduce retention rates, and can cause significant financial and reputation damage.
Is your anti-harassment training program up to date for 2025? Does it include bullying and other disrespectful conduct? Does it incorporate recommendations from the 2024 EEOC Enforcement Guidance on Harassment in the Workplace?
Fair Measures does! Our Harassment Prevention webinars for managers and employees and our Respectful Workplace classroom training have been updated for 2025 to teach your employees what they need to know right now about preventing workplace harassment, discrimination, and bullying, being an upstander—not a bystander—and keeping your organization a great place to work.
Let us help you make your workplace the best it can be! To find out more about our national HR and employment law training programs, or to book a 2025 workshop, please call 800-458-2778 or send us an email!
Updated 05-05-2025
Information here is correct at the time it is posted. Case decisions cited here may be reversed. Please do not rely on this information without consulting an attorney first.
