Being accused of intimidation & bullying

Officelady

I have been employed now for 3 years with the sane company got a great track record never in trouble always good results no sick etc then all of a sudden one of my supervisors has taken a distinct dislike for me & I have no clue why, it started with her removing me from Facebook, horrible glares & being ignored !
I could deal with this as I don't have to come into contact with her too often but then one day she decides she doesn't want me working with a colleague on a job (although I have to point out I was supposed to be working with another colleague & we just swapped which is regularly done normally with no problem ) she stormed up to us shouting I don't want you two working together stick to the position allocated & stormed off leaving us & other work colleagues gobsmacked! Neither of us retaliated in any way & I even made the effort to be overly nice to her afterwards as not to cause an unwanted atmosphere, at the end of the job if there is a problem a manager is able & encouraged to write a review on you good or bad but neither was done & nothing else was said, weeks later I hear she's done the same to someone else but this time worse saying I'm the manager I don't have to explain myself to any of you ! I said to another work colleague that I was thinking if reporting it as it was not a nice way to be dealt with but I never did, big mistake ! It's 3 months since that day & this morning I've received a letter through the post inviting me to a meeting me & my colleague are being accused of bullying in the form of intimidation & being disrespectful ! I'm gutted I seriously cannot believe someone can make a complete lie up to really bully us through the system I'm absolutely devastated no witness statements have been taken from other staff & the fact this happened 3 months ago but she's only just reported it ??? I'm at a total loss & don't know what to do I'm not in the union but she is. & her best friend is a union manager is she allowed to represent her as she has a personal interest? I have a meeting on Monday & could do with some help.

FBaby

What evidence has she put forward, ie. examples of behaviour to justify her claims? If it hasn't been shared, I would ask for it.

Ultimately, if she is complaining about an incident that took place 3 months ago, and nothing since, she is going to be the one having to justify why she hasn't dealt with it earlier.

Officelady

No info has been shade what so ever do I have a right to ask for this & should I get it before the meeting or ask in the meeting

stevemLS

You may not get witness statements prior to the investigation meeting, they haven't yet decided whether there is a case to answer - but you do have a right to it before any disciplinary hearing.

Witnesses do not generally have any right to representation.

Officelady

There isn't any they haven't got witness statements I've asked the other staff & they can't even believe this has happened had no idea

stevemLS

They will be holding a series of investigation meetings, including with witnesses (one of whom) will presumably be the supervisor that has made the complaint.

cazziebo

Officelady wrote: »

There isn't any they haven't got witness statements I've asked the other staff & they can't even believe this has happened had no idea

You are not helping the situation by discussing this with other staff. That in itself could be seen as contributing to intimidating the manager.

You only know what you know. It is your perception that the supervisor has taken a "sudden dislike" to you. It is the supervisor's perception that she is being bullied. You all have a responsibility to resolve whatever has gone wrong here.

You have to be open to the suggestion that your behaviour is intimidating, or something has happened to create that perception.

At the same time, the supervisor has a responsibility to behave maturely and deal with the situation objectively and appropriately. She should have addressed whatever the issue was at the time before launching into the formal process. Nobody gets things right all the time.

Seek first to understand. It is your perception that you are not at fault so you are going into this meeting with a clear conscience. Have an open mind and try to gain some insight into why your supervisor has this perception (or is saying she has).

MissD

You really have to be very careful here.

I, a few years ago made an allegation of bullying against 2 members of staff (both true). This was due to seeing an email berating me (I had to have access to a colleague's email and had been given her passwords and her *yahoo mail* was open at this email, strange but true, she'd gone off early because her first grandchild was being born).

It involved a temporary worker and friend of boss/my colleague (2 diff people).

I then had had the temp berate me (but so as I could hear (next room, glass door, open)) about my work, attendance etc to my boss.

After a few occasions where I'd heard things being said about me I raised a bullying complaint. I did this by email and letter and copied whoever needed to be copied including complaints manager who deals with HR/bullying.

The temp and my colleague both denied this and the temp replied to my email denying everything and winding me up. My colleague refused to comment. I got annoyed in the office swore and walked out and resigned and then rescinded my resignation (as I needed my job), I was given a written warning over my behaviour. I in turn threatened that if i was sacked I'd claim constructive dismissal or whatever and I had evidence (emails).

I found out though through an ex employee that the temp (also a legal sec, now retired) had stated that I did in fact have a case and my boss could get in trouble for not acting professionally. I didn't know this didn't take independent legal advice at the time and needed my job plus was downtrodden by 18 months of bullying for which I had counselling at £80 per month (reduced rate charity) for 18 months!

My point is, your employers have to think very carefully and handle this properly (unlike my boss) as your colleague may well have a case regarding you bullying even though you may deny it.

both my colleagues denied this, yet they were lying!

Officelady

But my concern is I know the facts that I did nothing & it's making me Ill knowing that people can make false accusations use the word bullying & you can make someone lose there job that in itself is bullying she is using the system to hurt me I am going to put in a counter grievance but just feel threatened by the whole situation that once this is done she can do it again over her 'perception'

Catcherupper14

I'm not sure if I've read this correctly, but it seems to have started when you were given a task to do and a colleague to work with and you decided to swap around.


If this is correct then your behaviour could be seen as undermining the manager's authority.


Has this been going on for some time? It may have felt like the last straw to the manager, particularly if you started to argue about it.


If I gave one of my members of staff something to do then I would expect it to be done by that person. No arguments, no changes.

Officelady

I just cannot understand a manager not following procedure or trying to resolve matters just going to this 3 months down the line surely that's got to seem strange as I work in a complete different section to her I forgot to mention before she only managed us for a day she works in a seperate area & I've not come into contact with her once since that day so in one day I've been bullying her