I am a witness, should I approach investigator?

Emmia

marmage said:

This is tricky. There seems to be divide of opinion here. 

To clarify, HR is the one who instigated the investigation. She took the side of the lady who was covered by senior management. 

My line manager i believe was simply informed it was happening. 

The accusations have been taken out of context therefore sounds bad. I want to give my account to make ppl aware that colleague has only ever had the interests of the company ethos at heart, rather than going against them, as the accusation suggests. She challenged the opinion of the lady who had the backing of the more senior management.

Colleague not in a union although I had been encouraging it! She has spoken to a couple of solicitors however, but I haven't been able o get much detail yet. 

HR will have instigated the investigation following a report of inappropriate behaviour / complaint from someone. Hopefully they have asked an unconnected colleague who doesn't know either your colleague or the complainant to do an investigation into the allegations. 

You are free to tell your colleague that you are happy to meet with the investigator as a witness to the event, and you will hopefully be interviewed on this basis.

This investigation may also relate to more than one incident, and/or allegations by more than one person. The fact your colleague is considering legal representation indicates there's possibly more going on here.

As a non-union member she should be able to have a colleague (not a lawyer) present at meetings to support her - but it is best if that person is not one of the people being interviewed, and would remain as silent as possible during the meetings.

Also whilst the investigation is going on the people involved aren't allowed to discuss it, and can't discuss it after the investigation has concluded.

Do remember that it is the victims interpretation of things like bullying, (rather than the person doing the bullying) which holds weight.

gwynlas

Marmage, I trust that you are in a union and the fact that you are prepared to speak up in support of your colleague does not backfire on you

From experience unions are not able to step in to advise on cases already raised against a non member.
However if your colleague does join now they will be able to support them going forward ensuring that should they be sanctionned eg by a written warning that this is administered fairly.

They should be very aware of potential workplace bullying and if management is trying to 'manage' someone out.

ohreallƳ

Keep out of it, its not your party. By informing the line manager, you may have contaminated the process.

By all means make yourself available to your friend as a witness should this proceed to a disciplinary.  Is trade union involved?

HR and management may wish to embark on a fishing exercise to care needs to be exercised and what information the investigators can get their mitts on may be used to build a deeper, wider ranging case against her (their information needs to come from somewhere, be careful)

elsien

Although for the sake of clarity, there is no statutory right to be accompanied during a disciplinary investigation. Only when it gets to a formal disciplinary process. If it does. 

ohreallƳ

elsien said:

Although for the sake of clarity, there is no statutory right to be accompanied during a disciplinary investigation. Only when it gets to a formal disciplinary process. If it does. 

The employer is NHS, I worked NHS for over 30 years, I've not known an investigation to decline TU attendance.

Emmia

ohreallƳ said:

elsien said:

Although for the sake of clarity, there is no statutory right to be accompanied during a disciplinary investigation. Only when it gets to a formal disciplinary process. If it does. 

The employer is NHS, I worked NHS for over 30 years, I've not known an investigation to decline TU attendance.

Or, if the person being investigated is not a union member, a colleague they might choose.

prowla

It seems to me that the information needs to be presented, by some mechanism.

I would suggest informing HR and the investigator in writing, cc. your manager.

That way it's all above board and can't be ignored.

I wouldn't go via the colleague, as it might appear that you are an "onside" friend who is biased and trying to get her off.

The suggestion of reading the HR manual is a good one - it may give some guidance (or OTOH it may be of no use).

Tabieth

marmage said:

My colleague is currently undergoing a formal investigation regarding her behavior at work. I have been informed of the allegations made against her, which I believe to be false and taken out of context.

I witnessed the events as I was present during certain discussions. The situation is not entirely clear-cut, as it is not merely a matter of her having done something wrong.

I have already communicated my account of the events to my line manager; however, he stated that he must remain neutral and that there is little he can do at this time.

Should I reach out to the investigator to present my perspective, or would it be more appropriate for the accused colleague to request that the investigator contact me?

This investigation was initiated by HR, and I lack confidence in both HR and the process, as it appears to be heavily biased. I am extremely frustrated because I want to ensure that everyone understands my colleague has consistently performed her duties to the best of her ability and that she is innocent.

I’ve been an investigating officer (IO) in the NHS and in LA for several such investigations. What should happen is the IO interviews the person making the accusation, the person the allegations are made against, and any witnesses. (There  maybe circumstances where witnesses aren’t needed (for example if the accused person admits the allegations).) If you witnessed the incident then that will have come up when the IO interviewed the two parties. If your testimony is needed then HR will contact you and ask to interview you as a witness. Personally I’d just wait and see what happens. 

I do think you need to be careful though. You say you think the allegations are false and taken out of context and your colleague is innocent. That’s fine and you’re entitled to your opinion but it’s highly unlikely that you know the whole story. There will almost certainly be more to it and you probably do need to acknowledge your bias here. 

You also say the investigation was initiated by HR like that’s a bad thing but that’s absolutely normal. Investigations are neutral (albeit they often don’t feel that way!). If serious allegations are made then they have to be investigated. That doesn’t presume guilt, just that some accusations are so serious they always have to be looked at. The purpose of the investigation is to find out what happened and make recommendations which could be no case to answer, a verbal warning or that it goes to a panel to judge. I have no idea if the investigation is well run or not but, the fact it’s happening, doesn’t mean bias.