Employment tribunal round 2
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ScaredButHopeful wrote: »Hi
After an unsuccessful tribunal hearing in which I represented myself, I am now at the start of another.
I previously lost, I accepted that as it was my own fault.
I just buckled in the court and spent most of the days in tears.
Therefore not asking the right questions or answering in enough detail.
However, the following day, a colleague put a completely humiliating social media post up about me being a loser.
This was sent to me by a mutual friend and in an office of 6 people, 5 had liked or laughed at it, not including staff members who I managed in my role and a branch manager of another area we run.
The comments were humiliating.
I had been off work for a period of 10 months due to stress and a back injury and I mailed the company director to say this was humiliating etc but I received no reply.
Other things had happened in this 10 months such as receiving texts accusing me of immature things which I blocked the person and refused to respond.
I then felt I had to resign as my email was ignored and within 24 hours received a basic acceptance to the resignation.
I had mental health issues due to the stress of it all which my employer was aware of including a stupid suicide attempt and this whole thing sent me crashing back down.
These people were colleagues and my outside acquaintances are also theres so I felt cut off and distraught.
I now have legal representation who has filed for constructive dismissal and victimisation amongst other things.
Because I was off for 10 months prior to this, do I have any hope of succession or will they say they was going to fire me anyway?
This time I don’t have to represent myself which is a big relief but I have no idea of victimisation law as google refers back to discrimination etc
I’m off work and seeing a psych team twice a week.
I’m not a stupid person, just a defeated weak humiliated one right now.
Should I just cut my losses or show them that this is unacceptable?
Thank you in advance
How long was it "ignored" for? Remember employment tribunals sometimes deal in years, and frequently months. If you are going to say x days then forget it, they were considering a response and you resigned.
For constructive dismissal the employers must act so unreasonably you had no real choice but to resign, they forced you out basically. I would say they will state no breach - and you need substantial breaches to have a case.0 -
Not sure how you’ll prove constructive dismissal; that requires you to go through the full internal process first.ScaredButHopeful wrote: »Hi
After an unsuccessful tribunal hearing in which I represented myself, I am now at the start of another.
I previously lost, I accepted that as it was my own fault.
I just buckled in the court and spent most of the days in tears.
Therefore not asking the right questions or answering in enough detail.
However, the following day, a colleague put a completely humiliating social media post up about me being a loser.
This was sent to me by a mutual friend and in an office of 6 people, 5 had liked or laughed at it, not including staff members who I managed in my role and a branch manager of another area we run.
The comments were humiliating.
I had been off work for a period of 10 months due to stress and a back injury and I mailed the company director to say this was humiliating etc but I received no reply.
Other things had happened in this 10 months such as receiving texts accusing me of immature things which I blocked the person and refused to respond.
I then felt I had to resign as my email was ignored and within 24 hours received a basic acceptance to the resignation.
I had mental health issues due to the stress of it all which my employer was aware of including a stupid suicide attempt and this whole thing sent me crashing back down.
These people were colleagues and my outside acquaintances are also theres so I felt cut off and distraught.
I now have legal representation who has filed for constructive dismissal and victimisation amongst other things.
Because I was off for 10 months prior to this, do I have any hope of succession or will they say they was going to fire me anyway?
This time I don’t have to represent myself which is a big relief but I have no idea of victimisation law as google refers back to discrimination etc
I’m off work and seeing a psych team twice a week.
I’m not a stupid person, just a defeated weak humiliated one right now.
Should I just cut my losses or show them that this is unacceptable?
Thank you in advance
As you have a solicitor; why aren’t you asking him or her??
I think you need to concentrate on yourself and building up your self esteem and self confidence; you are too easily offended andworry too much about what others think.
Factually your ex colleague was correct; you had lost. Whilst it’s unpleasant to see yourself talked about on social media; and certainly most employers would have acted; the way you respond to these incidents seems to also be inappropriate0 -
Who did you raise the harassment to and when you did, did you request any specific actions to take place? How do you know as its already been pointed out that they indeed did nothing about it?
The claims about you attacking people is not going to help your case.
Having been treated very unfairly in the work place before (not related to colleagues) and having moved on, I can assure you that whatever the damages it causes, your biggest victory is to move on and get better, not to seek revange or compensation.
At best you might get something against the odds, but doing so will only damage you more whereas the whole process won't stop any of them from sleeping properly and the financial damage will most likely be meaningless to them. They will move on from the outcome much quicker than you will recovering from the stress of it all. I know it's hard, very hard but for your own health, you are much more likely to get better if you just turn the page and move on.0 -
ScaredButHopeful wrote: »Hi
After an unsuccessful tribunal hearing in which I represented myself, I am now at the start of another.
I previously lost, I accepted that as it was my own fault.
I just buckled in the court and spent most of the days in tears.
Therefore not asking the right questions or answering in enough detail.
However, the following day, a colleague put a completely humiliating social media post up about me being a loser.
This was sent to me by a mutual friend and in an office of 6 people, 5 had liked or laughed at it, not including staff members who I managed in my role and a branch manager of another area we run.
The comments were humiliating.
I had been off work for a period of 10 months due to stress and a back injury and I mailed the company director to say this was humiliating etc but I received no reply.
Other things had happened in this 10 months such as receiving texts accusing me of immature things which I blocked the person and refused to respond.
I then felt I had to resign as my email was ignored and within 24 hours received a basic acceptance to the resignation.
I had mental health issues due to the stress of it all which my employer was aware of including a stupid suicide attempt and this whole thing sent me crashing back down.
These people were colleagues and my outside acquaintances are also theres so I felt cut off and distraught.
I now have legal representation who has filed for constructive dismissal and victimisation amongst other things.
Because I was off for 10 months prior to this, do I have any hope of succession or will they say they was going to fire me anyway?
This time I don’t have to represent myself which is a big relief but I have no idea of victimisation law as google refers back to discrimination etc
I’m off work and seeing a psych team twice a week.
I’m not a stupid person, just a defeated weak humiliated one right now.
Should I just cut my losses or show them that this is unacceptable?
Thank you in advance
resigning over a potential missed email is foolhardy in my opinion.
Very easy to give doubt as to whether it was seen.0 -
Blunt doesn't bother me. But listen, this is the only fact there is...ScaredButHopeful wrote: »Sorry if I appear blunt but it wasn’t about money.
I was bred into chaos and abuse yet I turned the tables and I am ridiculously by the book.
There are ways to cut back and put food on the table but there is nothing that can take back pain and suffering and unjustness.
The first case was about standing for what I believed in, for being the voice of people who couldn’t stand up for themselves.
I was tempted to take a settlement offer at one stage but I declined due to the fact that was never what this was about.
Stupid? Maybe I am.
Now it’s about money as well as the loss of my mental state as it became personal.
The law, which is what a court is, does not care about justice, pain or suffering. It is about two things. Has the law been broken? What is the legal consequence? That's your problem. You think this is about principles or justice. You are the only person who thinks that. Employment tribunals are a cash transaction. If you can prove that the law is broken you get cash. They aren't anything more than that. They never have been. They never will be.
So they are also not about your mental state, and it's not personal! It's about money. There's no "and" and there's no "also".
I am being as honest as I can be here. I distrust your solicitors advice because I can't see a single merit in it. As a result - and trust me, your solicitor thinks it's about money, their money, and nothing else - I am worried that you might end up in a worse place. It does happen. I'm not saying that to stop you. Your solicitor might have spotted something great we don't know about. But if that is the case, it seems that you really need to know that and be reassured that this is worth it for you. And you obviously aren't because that's why you posted.
I mean no disrespect here, but if you want to be the voice of the people, stand for parliament. In a tribunal you aren't a voice for anything. You are a litigant in a court of law claiming money.0 -
Your posts focus very much on 'you' thinking that 'you' are the reason you lost the Tribunal. 'You' being disabled, 'you' not being able to explain how badly it affected your life and so on.
It is really important to understand that the Tribunal is not about you or your mental health. Tribunals are about whether the employer breached the law or not.
You can explain yourself perfectly well, be going through a tough period that really affected your life - and still lose at Tribunal.
I have to say I think that nasty posts on social media are par for the course. You did decide to take your employer to a Tribunal, after all.
Presumably your solicitor thinks you have a reasonable chance of winning if he/she is taking you on as a client on a NWNF basis (assuming you gave your solicitor the full facts and all relevant documents, including details of the previous ET hearing). But it is going to be a stressful process so you need to think long and hard about whether it is worth it.0 -
I agree. But I'm sure you will also agree that solicitors are strategists. And their strategy is sometimes more about them than it is about their clients. I certainly know of instances where a settlement before tribunal isn't covered in the NWNF so the litigant ends up paying over their settlement and possibly more. Or where, having not got that settlement, the litigant is dumped before tribunal. It's also been reported on here. Which is why I think that, given the OPs current state, they need to reassure themselves. Their health could be a lot worse before one of that kind of solicitor has finished with them.steampowered wrote: »Your posts focus very much on 'you' thinking that 'you' are the reason you lost the Tribunal. 'You' being disabled, 'you' not being able to explain how badly it affected your life and so on.
It is really important to understand that the Tribunal is not about you or your mental health. Tribunals are about whether the employer breached the law or not.
You can explain yourself perfectly well, be going through a tough period that really affected your life - and still lose at Tribunal.
I have to say I think that nasty posts on social media are par for the course. You did decide to take your employer to a Tribunal, after all.
Presumably your solicitor thinks you have a reasonable chance of winning if he/she is taking you on as a client on a NWNF basis (assuming you gave your solicitor the full facts and all relevant documents, including details of the previous ET hearing). But it is going to be a stressful process so you need to think long and hard about whether it is worth it.0 -
Thank you all again.
I guess I put it up here as at the time I was so upset and offended by it all that I jumped in head first.
After sitting back I realise that maybe the only way forward is to drop everything and work on my own health.
Yes I gave every document over to the solicitor which included the emails telling me I wasn’t allowed to contact my employers.
Once I lost I just wanted a reference as I had never had any warnings etc and seeing the post was mortifying.
But I shall withdraw as the date to proceed is very soon and again, reading peoples comments who have no direct link make it more understandable.
Whether blunt or to the point with any comments made, thank you all for your time.0 -
I agree. But I'm sure you will also agree that solicitors are strategists. And their strategy is sometimes more about them than it is about their clients. I certainly know of instances where a settlement before tribunal isn't covered in the NWNF so the litigant ends up paying over their settlement and possibly more. Or where, having not got that settlement, the litigant is dumped before tribunal. It's also been reported on here. Which is why I think that, given the OPs current state, they need to reassure themselves. Their health could be a lot worse before one of that kind of solicitor has finished with them.
All very true. The Op needs to read his/her NWNF agreement carefully. It should clearly set out the circumstances in which the solicitor can charge fees.
It is also worth mentioning that a NWNF agreement usually says that the claimant needs to pay fees if they withdraw, for the work done before the withdrawal. So if the solicitor has already been doing work on the file, Op needs to be careful - another reason to read the NWNF agreement, and to speak to the sol before withdrawing.0 -
I will do and thank you.
It’s a set percentage of settlement or tribunal win (if successful) And is written that there are no further costs if unsuccessful.
It does stipulate what you have written about withdrawal but so far it’s early days so not a huge accumulated loss.
I’m also kept aware of hours already spent on the file so again no hidden charges there0
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