Statement given to the accused

1886

Myself and two other employees were asked to give statements on Friday about something another employee did.

We signed them on Monday and yesterday the accused was told he will be having a disciplinary hearing today.

He is a friend of mine and when I saw him he said that I was the only one who didn’t stitch him up. I asked how he knew what the others had said and he had copies of all three of our statements.

I was surprised he had been given copies because of confidentiality. I was never told copies would be given, he’s gone and had a row with one of the others over what they said.

Does anybody know if this is standard to give copies? A bit of searching online suggests names should be removed as a minimum and that copies being given isn’t a necessity. I feel quite annoyed

Comms69

Yes. Ofcourse.

What do you think a statement is?

Not sure about the name removal; would certainly make it easy for employers to just make up a statement.

Comms69

Oh and your friend having a row with a olleague over a statement most likely means he’s just lost his job.

Stay out of it.

ohreally

I get access to statements due to representation, sometimes they are anonymised, sometimes not.

sangie595

ohreally wrote: »

I get access to statements due to representation, sometimes they are anonymised, sometimes not.

I agree. Anonymised statements are not terribly useful. If someone isn't prepared to be questioned about their evidence, then it has limited value.

System

If he's being accused of anything, he'll have access to statements as part of the process. This is quite normal.

agrinnall

andydownes123 wrote: »

If he's being accused of anything, he'll have access to statements as part of the process. This is quite normal.

Unless the employer subscribes to the Kafka school of accusation! :eek:

ReadingTim

Put the boot on the other foot - if you were accused of something, don't you think you'd want to know what you were accused of, and what the evidence of you doing it was?!?

Les79

Hmm, why was there such a discrepancy between your statement and those of the other two people?

I note that you are friends with this person, did you maybe just give a false or inaccurate statement to back up your mate?

Maybe the two people have it in for your friend and have actually stitched them up with their own false or inaccurate statements?

Would be interesting to know the friendship relationships between all 4 parties here. May hold some clues as to what the truth is... If, for example, the other two witnesses are indifferent (or worse) towards each other then it would look a bit suspect on you.

Not sure why you are feeling annoyed though? You've backed up your friend (rightly or wrongly) and stayed in their good books. And the employer could have seen your discrepancy either way. The only thing you should realistically be annoyed with is your friend's conduct, as they may have just lost their job with the outburst...