hmm... pecking order, perhaps... sounds like spawning behavior to me. I've read that tetras are notoriously hard to actually breed, but that doesn't mean they won't act out if a females got eggs.
also, the only way i know of sexing tetras is that the females are usually rounder in the stomach area, whereas males are more concave, which explain why they are simply flicking against this "fat' tetra and not attacking it as well.
My black neons do this on occasion as the girl-boy ratio is off (though it's far easier to see the difference in them than regular neons). They rip into each other time and will flick and rub against the female whenever they manage to get her alone. They'll stop eventually, though, and then their fins will heal. But if you notice any fish looking dangerously stressed or injured, you should try to seperate it.