Possibly targeted by employer

Dawinderpal

I had an issue where I was with my colleagues in a bar on Sunday night, when we were abroad for a conference. Two of my (female) colleagues took what I was saying (a simple, non-controversial point about networking) totally the wrong way, started giving me hassle for it, and essentially cornered me until I ended up saying something that offended one of them – by accident and I didn’t mean it that way – we had had a lot to drink by this point. I have witnesses who were there to prove this.

Anyway, the girl that I offended is my publisher’s pet – he’s even said in front of the team that she’s his favourite person, and he’s basically warned me that he’ll be addressing it with me this week. I don’t want to discuss it with him, because I don’t think I’m going to get fair treatment.

Also, as punishment the following night, my manager made me take a big, heavy box of glass encased awards back to my hotel room and bring it back to the venue in the morning – which was a really long walk. It was really heavy and I had my laptop bag with me and now, as a result, I now have sever back pains and I'm taking lots of painkillers. I have a doctor's appointment booked to check this out.

Also, my publisher made me work as a doorman at our own awards do. Firstly, one of my job objectives is to network and make contacts, so if I can’t even get into my own awards do, then that’s a joke – some of the guests at the awards mentioned that too. And secondly, isn't it illegal to appoint someone to work as a doorman without them having a doorman’s licence?

The following day, I was late to the conference, but I didn’t miss my first meeting and I stayed on an extra hour to make up for it - I was physically shattered after working an 8.30am to 10pm shift, the latter part as a doorman, and also from carrying a huge heavy box for a long distance. I feel that I’ve been unfairly targeted and now I fear my managers are going to put me on a disciplinary course of action.

Do I have any rights to defend myself? Any advice would be greatly appreciated and apologies if this thread is in the wrong forum - I couldn't find one more relevant.

tomtontom

How long have you worked there? Do you dispute that what you said was offensive?

bargainbetty

Firstly, where alcohol is concerned, things can and do go wrong. You may not have meant to offend them, but you did. An apology might be in order, even a qualified one.

Second, if it was a long walk with a heavy box, why did you not take a cab? Had you been prohibited from doing this?

Third, you were not a 'doorman'. You were greeting guests at your event. You do not need a licence for that. It is entirely possible that your boss thought it better to keep you and your colleagues apart during the event, due the behaviour of the night before.

Perhaps you should wait and see what is going to happen before you start screaming about unfair treatment. A formal investigation can be requested and it will take time, and an offer to apologise for any offence unintentionally caused might well be sufficient. One incidence of lateness where there were no significant implications of the lateness might be enough for a quiet word, but nothing more. Your reasons for being late are entirely self-serving at this point. Sorry to be harsh, but I worked on an international trade show where I was on the exhibition floor by 8.00 a.m, finished at 5.00 p.m., networked till 10.00 p.m. and then reworked the sales figures until past midnight for five days straight, and I was there every day at 8.00 a.m, in body if not in spirit. You won't get far blaming them for you having to do a job that needed doing and not using the most sensible way of doing part of it.

You're worried, that's obvious, but the business part of me wants to tell you to pull yourself together and stop getting so defensive before you've actually been attacked. Chances are, it will all get put down to 'don't get drunk on a school night again' and forgotten. If not, stick to the facts and get your witnesses to write a statement for the disciplinary if and when it happens. I doubt it will.

DCFC79

Dawinderpal wrote: »

I had an issue where I was with my colleagues in a bar on Sunday night, when we were abroad for a conference. Two of my (female) colleagues took what I was saying (a simple, non-controversial point about networking) totally the wrong way, started giving me hassle for it, and essentially cornered me until I ended up saying something that offended one of them – by accident and I didn’t mean it that way – we had had a lot to drink by this point. I have witnesses who were there to prove this.

Anyway, the girl that I offended is my publisher’s pet – he’s even said in front of the team that she’s his favourite person, and he’s basically warned me that he’ll be addressing it with me this week. I don’t want to discuss it with him, because I don’t think I’m going to get fair treatment.

Also, as punishment the following night, my manager made me take a big, heavy box of glass encased awards back to my hotel room and bring it back to the venue in the morning – which was a really long walk. It was really heavy and I had my laptop bag with me and now, as a result, I now have sever back pains and I'm taking lots of painkillers. I have a doctor's appointment booked to check this out.

Also, my publisher made me work as a doorman at our own awards do. Firstly, one of my job objectives is to network and make contacts, so if I can’t even get into my own awards do, then that’s a joke – some of the guests at the awards mentioned that too. And secondly, isn't it illegal to appoint someone to work as a doorman without them having a doorman’s licence?

The following day, I was late to the conference, but I didn’t miss my first meeting and I stayed on an extra hour to make up for it - I was physically shattered after working an 8.30am to 10pm shift, the latter part as a doorman, and also from carrying a huge heavy box for a long distance. I feel that I’ve been unfairly targeted and now I fear my managers are going to put me on a disciplinary course of action.

Do I have any rights to defend myself? Any advice would be greatly appreciated and apologies if this thread is in the wrong forum - I couldn't find one more relevant.

This is the right forum as its job related problem.

Dawinderpal

Thanks very much Bargain Betty, that’s very helpful as I’m not looking for sympathy, just perspective and advice.

I did apologise profusely the following morning – even though I did feel I was attacked and goaded in that situation, I made no mention of this and felt it’s best for all if I just apologise so that we can all move on.

I did take a cab, even though I was not given express permission to – but to get from the entrance of the venue (which hosted 80,000 people last week) to where my manager said he was, and then to where he actually was, was a good 20 minute walk.

Ironically, the two girls involved were there to greet the guest at the event – they were flown out specifically for this – and were in the entrance area with me. My job was to put wristbands on the guests and ensure that nobody entered without a wristband. My manager used the phrase “doorman” several times to describe my role at the event.

The reason I am being defensive is because I’ve seen my manager force people out of the company in the past, and I want to make sure that if I leave, it is because I choose to. I do plan to leave when a suitable offer comes along, but I take exception to being forced out in the way I‘ve seen previous colleagues forced out. My manager has even admitted that he has been a “bully” in the past, hence my wariness.

Dawinderpal

In the case of being the doorman, normally it would be an external licensed security person. In the case of the box, the contents would normally have been divided into two or three boxes and carried by two or three of us.

tomtontom

Feel free to ignore my first post - it only asks for essential information!

maninthestreet

Have you been given training in lifting and carrying objects? If not, your employer should not have asked you to perform that task.

Dawinderpal

Apologies TomTonTom, I did mean to respond, but it's been a busy morning!

I’ve been at the company for just over two and a half years. To convey what I said would be very long-winded because essentially I didn’t actually say a word at all. I was making a point about how we have an opportunity to network with industry contacts, as we work for a media company reporting on the mobile industry, and we were aware that there were potential contacts in that very bar. In fact, on the table beside us, a man even told us that he’s from a large company that we report on frequently.

One of the girls (let’s call her A) started taking my point about networking as a personal insult (which confused the life out of me) and began asking what more could she do than she is already doing. I tried to explain that we as a team have an opportunity and I’m not saying anything about individuals at all – but she did not stop and said she’s doing all she can. I reiterated that I’m not having a go at anyone, particularly not any individual.

Moments earlier, I had met an industry contact – who could prove to be very valuable to us as a business - and I introduced him to the team. The other girl (B) broke off from the conversation and started having a separate conversation with A. At that point the industry contact, who felt ignored, said his goodbyes. My feeling at the time was that if I could get my other colleagues on board to keep the entire team engaged in a conversation, it would be beneficial to us.

So anyway, A continued with her rant about how she’s doing all she can and if she wasn’t the one who is not pulling her weight, then who is? That’s when I made the unfortunate error of – after first motioning to the entire team, then motioning to B as I was going to reference the earlier incident with the other industry contact, but before I had a chance to explain my point, they both stormed out.

Dawinderpal

I then also stormed out because I felt my words had been totally taken out of context and used against me to paint me as a villain - when all I was trying to do was make potentially valuable contacts for all of us.

Bantex_2

Sounds like a school playground to me and you all need to start acting like grown ups.