A six-month study of the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department found on-the-job bullying, harassment and other problems, issues that were raised after 31-year-old firefighter-paramedic Nicole Mittendorff took her own life last year. No one knows if cyberbullying played a role in Mittendorff’s death, but she had faced online harassment and bullying, possibly by colleagues.
An independent consultant examining the workplace culture of the fire and rescue department found that 37 percent of the members it questioned reported either being bullied or witnessing someone who was bullied.