Colleague issue

HugoSP

AnnaV wrote: »

Wow. Don't think I have ever put so many people of my ignore list after reading a thread. Anyways....

Well done Gwen! Glad you are getting some professional support. You may well find that the company has not dealt with it in the correct manner either - obviously you are not able to give us full details on here, but some of what we have heard sounds a bit fishy (his friends managing the case, giving you each a copy of the other's statement, his interview transcript/notes not complete), and they may be liable to some respect. They have very strict guidelines that they must adhere to in these cases.

Indeed, when we were involved with disciplinaries etc we usually insisted that the cases were managed by individuals who were impartial. The HR dept are fools for allowing this to happen as if it ever reach an industrial tribunal, the employer is running the risk of being seen to be unfair.

That is something I would push to get corrected if I were representing you, and I would talk to your union rep about stating your objections about this.

You have an issue of impartiality here.

Indeed there was a similar and relevent case at my place of work where the employee's manager who had carried out an investigation into him falsly claiming expnses also took part in the decision to dismiss him. The tribunal actually found in favour of the applicant (employee) because the company were found to have acted unfairly in allowing the investigating manager to sit on the disciplinary panel, as he couldn't be impartial in his deliberations. It's rather like a police officer investigating a crime, then sitting on the trial jury. Technically the employer lost a cast iron case over this. However the tribunal also found that it was pretty obvious that the employee had done what he was accused of and awarded him £0.00

In your case Gwen, I suspect the company would be expected by an IT to have considered mitigating circumstances. A tribunal may well find that such mitigating circumstances couldn't be addressed properly because of the lack of impartiality, and that as there are no doubt other managers (who neither of you have had any dealings with or are not particularly close to) who could have been brought into oversee this.

The reason I have brought the IT into this is that a good HR manager will baseline his or her decisions and viewpoints on how an IT is likley to see it. Ours did, and we found it very useful to base our discussions on that if we couldn't find any other common ground.

ceridwen

Uncertain wrote: »

Appalling! :mad:

Had I said "they might also have a specific Mens Officer (ie at national level) and, if so, he would be likely to "go for the woman like a terrier after a rabbit" You would be up in arms!

What happened to equality!

But then...how many MEN do you know that get sexually harassed at work? I know there are some..but I feel personally that this particular problem is rather more likely to happen to women currently. Right now - no disrespect to men and there have been some very nice/helpful/supportive men posting on this thread - but I am just suggesting one possible way forward in this particular case...

marielouise

I've been following this thread for a while now and I think that despite some of the people on here who seem to just want to stir so that they can get a reaction, Gwen herself seems to be coming across as so much more confident in the decisions she has made than when she first created the thread.
My personal opinion is that she did the only thing she could have done in reporting him. Yes, with hindsight she may well wish she had acted sooner, but in fairness, most people would not expect anybody to expose themselves in such a way, and as bad as the suggestive e-mails sound, i think it's a huge leap from them to indecent exposure. Good luck Gwen, I hope that you keep fighting x

ceridwen

I'd noticed a growing confidence myself since the outset - and thought "Well - thats all to the good".:)

marielouise

definitely! I don't even know her but for some reason I felt very protective from the start and now I just feel very proud of her. Just can't imagine how stressful all this must be on her. strong lady.

RosaBernicia

Hi Gwen

Just popping by to see how you are. Sounds like you are doing all the sensible things with calling EHRC and chasing up legal advice, and have had some sensible support from lovely MSErs... I seem to have missed all the drama with deleted posts but won't be missing that contributor.

Let's hope if you give HR a poke by making it clear you will take this further then they will get their heads straight and sort things out properly. You are keeping copies of absolutely everything aren't you? If need be I would get yourself a file and a bunch of plastic pockets so you can just put stuff in day by day. And do look after yourself... don't forget to call Victim Support and/or your best mate for a night at the movies.

I would also second Errata's point about possibly removing the thread so that there is no potential issue with it being found by the 'opposition' (or attracting more unhelpful contributors). Those who have followed from the beginning will stick around for a new one and you could always post a short and very anonymous summary for anyone new joining.

Rosa xx

Uncertain

RosaBernicia wrote: »

I would also second Errata's point about possibly removing the thread so that there is no potential issue with it being found by the 'opposition' (or attracting more unhelpful contributors). Those who have followed from the beginning will stick around for a new one and you could always post a short and very anonymous summary for anyone new joining.

Sorry but I sincerely hope this is not possible. This is a public forum and a considerable number of people have devoted significant time to contributing.

Yes, there were a number of posts from (mainly) one contributor which I assume broke the forum rules and these have been removed - fair enough.

However, apart from this, I think some people are confusing "unhelpful" with simply expressing a different point of view to their own - which is not the same thing at all!

The forum is supposed to be for advice. This is not necessarily the same thing as endless sickly insincere words of "support". Sometimes the best advice may not be what the OP initially wanted to hear.

Also, if you want confidential advice then you need to get that on a one to one basis from a professional or at least a very trusted friend. If you choose to post on a public forum then anything you say is not, by definition, confidential. Your only protection is to keep your posts sufficiently anonymous that your are not identifiable or rely on the fact that out of say 50 million adults only about a thousand will actually read it.

To delete the thread would be an insult to those who have devoted significant time and energy to it - even if you don't agree with what some of them say.

AbbieCadabra

it's already been said by others, but my understanding of how this has been dealt with by HR is very wrong, it doesn't seem to go along with any of the basic guidelines for this type of situation at all & i hope the external help you've got can help sort this out for you Gwen.

really hope you're getting somewhere with this situation, look after yourself & pop back in to update us when you can

RacyRed

marielouise wrote: »

... Gwen herself seems to be coming across as so much more confident in the decisions she has made than when she first created the thread.
My personal opinion is that she did the only thing she could have done in reporting him. Yes, with hindsight she may well wish she had acted sooner, but in fairness, most people would not expect anybody to expose themselves in such a way, and as bad as the suggestive e-mails sound, i think it's a huge leap from them to indecent exposure. Good luck Gwen, I hope that you keep fighting x

I've been thinking along similar lines, well done Gwen

whitewing

I hope that justice prevails in the workplace and with the police. I believe that gwen did right by involving the police and work. I would sincerely hope that had she flagged it to work, then they would have contacted the police in any case. It is a serious matter.