One of my colleagues is an admin for a very difficult group of people. These people bully everyone, including this young admin. Management is aware of the problem but considers the people too valuable to reprimand.

I have noticed that whenever I interact with this admin, she starts off by issuing a long apology. The apologies are entirely unwarranted and sound like the kind of thing people do when they are used to being yelled at.

I am worried that a) she has a really bad self-image as a result of the bullying and b) that the apologies invite more abuse. However, it's possible that this is just the way she is, a part of her personality.

Is there a way to start a conversation about this without making it sound like I think she's doing something wrong?