Sorry to hear that. I agree with the others, definitely go for the appeal. Only submit a SAR now if you think you're fighting a losing battle; then you have to ask yourself why you are going through the pain of an appeal. If you lose your appeal, then submit a SAR. If you submit a SAR now, they will see you as a hinderance and be glad to be rid of you. You have the right to see the evidence they based their decision on and that is all you need at this stage. Remember, if you want to take them to a tribunal you only have 3 months to do so from your dismissal date. Don't wait for your appeal decision as it may take longer than 3 months.

I'm not saying that taking someone you know is a union rep is not the right thing to do but I would check that first. I had trouble with this when I was suspended; I wanted to take an ex-colleague who was a union rep. ACAS told me this would be perfectly fine but HR wouldn't allow this. Said it went against the terms of my suspension and employment contract. They used it against me in my investigation, said I was speaking to external parties about my suspension which was a breach of contract. I never got a chance to find out who was right.

I'm sorry to hear that this is the case with the union. It is correct, I went to my union rep for advice shortly after joining and while they were extremely helpful (on an unofficial basis), they couldn't fully help until after 3 or 6 months of membership. I can't stress enough to be patient with all this and only speak when spoken to. They will contact you when they want to, not before. If any of your colleagues contact you during the suspension period, confirm that you are off sick and thank them for their concern. If this does happen, DO NOT tell HR or your manager that you have spoken to them. Silence is going to be your best friend until you get called in for the investigation meeting (if you get called in, you may get called back into work if they find no proof). I do hope you get the result you do and the next message we get from you is that your case was unproven

Do not request a SAR until after they have finished their investigation. If you were to request one now all you would do is delay the investigation and annoy the heck out of them. The only time to request a SAR is if the investigation does not go in your favour and you need to take legal action. To be honest with you, you won't get any tangible information from a SAR because they will deem it sensitive information with could be detrimental to the other parties involved if disclosed to you. If you have a copy of your contract and the company handbook, that is all you need at this point. Contact your union rep. Let your HR department carry out the investigation and enjoy your time off but be available at all times. Don't speak to anyone else apart from your union rep. Trust no-one. Good luck. I hope it works out in your favour.

You have every right to be aggrieved!! You have every right to want to seek answers. But unfortunately you're not going to get then and there is nothing legal you can do - doesn't hurt trying though, if I had found a way I would have totally taken my lot to court. I think you needed more than legal advice. Take care and I'm wishing you all the very best. I'm sure you will find something better soon.

You're very welcome. Again my situation was similar. They recruited in another area after my dismissal and announced they would not be replacing me as they wanted to focus in that other area. That's a strategic decision that's not made on a whim. My paranoia wasn't paranoia, they were trying to get me to leave. I've since found out I was recruited to meet some key objectives over a 6 month period, when I met them I was no longer needed. Cheaper than getting a contractor in and cheaper than redundancy. Be very careful and be wary of your actions. Be the better person, no matter how hard this eats away at you. In the end they're the ones who will end up looking like idiots, not you

I went through a similar situation a few months ago. The advice you are being given here, especially about the wrong dismissal, is 100% correct. I don't understand why you have solicitors and ACAS telling you that you have a good case for wrong dismissal, when you clearly don't. It's natural to feel the way you do about this situation and to want justice, especially when you've done nothing wrong. It's an employers world, they can do what they want in your first two years with them as long as they following procedure. You've been there less than 3 months, write it off as a bad experience and move on. You probably don't want to hear the latter advice and nor did I when I lost my job. It was the advice Sangie gave me and it was the best advice out of all everything everyone ever said to me during that horrible time. Six months later I've achieved my career goals, something I would have never been able to do if I was still in my old job. Sangie (and some others) are straight speaking and it does come across as aggressive. I had a similar situation whereby I sought advice from elsewhere and Sangie wasn't too happy. I followed the other advice and found some peace through it. It wasn't anything legal, I simply asked for further information regarding my dismissal via a Subject Access request. It was a huge risk to take as I risked further damaging my reputation but it didn't. The company relaxed in their attitude towards me as further information came to light in my favour. BUT legally nothing changed, their records show that I was dismissed and I will still never be able to work for that company again. I didn't look to take any further action, it wasn't worth my time or effort. Good luck for your future.

Cool. I wasn't going to bother with a letter for exactly the reasons you've given. I've already sent them a letter asking for my belongings back and to ask what they want me to with the conference bookings. I don't want to send them another letter. I've got a new job, my new employer knows why I left. I've nothing to gain. I didn't pay the solicitor anything.

UPDATE You were all very right, the solicitor said nothing can be done and the company are under no obligation to assist in clearing my name. These allegations will remain on my file for 6 years. They did say I should give my ex-employers written notice that the allegations are false therefore they are not to provide a reference without discussing this with me first, unless the reference is generic. The best news of all is I have a new job after 2 whole days of unemployment. Ex-colleagues and managers have all rallied around to support me which is all I need to help me realise that I'm not the person this company says I am. What was a bad situation has turned around in my favour.

Thanks for sharing your story Sangie. It's given me strength to move on. You would be pleased to know that things seem clearer and calmer this morning and I feel able to move on. After writing my saga I realised that the signs were there all along, from the moment I first walked into the door of that organisation. A friend has offered me a job which is a promotion to my last job. I will be taking it if I'm not offered the job I'm interviewing for on Wednesday. My old employers (prior to this organisation) have also been in contact to let me know they are willing to have me back should the right position become available. Actually the support coming from my previous company has been amazing. And the solicitor, I'm convinced that nothing will come from this. It was a knee-jerk reaction fuelled by those around me encouraging me to get justice. All the very best B x PS the early morning post about the solicitor - I volunteer outside working hours and get home at that hour.

Sorry, at the time I honestly didn't think my saga was relevant. My head was so full of anger regarding the harassment claims that I couldn't see the connection. I just wanted to focus on clearing my name. Now that it is over I can now see how it was relevant. Again, I'm sorry. You will have to forgive me right now. I'm sure in a couple of days time I will be able to move on and forget the whole sorry situation. But right now I feeling confused, angry, hurt ... all the negative emotions.

I'm the same so I completely understand. And it's probably why I'm here now seeking help.

I left out the part where my line manager tells me when I first complained that my predecessor had cited the exact issues as their reason for leaving. He says he feels like he has failed me. My predecessor was only in the job for about 6 months.

Fortunately Sangie has explained why Emmzzi posted what they did so I understand the reason for this post. You have to excuse me but I still don't understand why my backstory would help with the harassment claims against me, but here it is. The colleague who complained about me is very controlling of my workload and my decisions. We don't work for the same department and they certainly don't have the authority to manage me; we are the grading. In meetings he speaks on my behalf and when he discovers I am working on a project for another department, he has his own projects meetings with them (without me) and takes the led. With regards to work for his department, he would send me a request and if I didn't immediately jump he would threaten to report me to his manager or my own manager. He would report it to his manager, the Head of the department who is the company bully, and moments later I will get an e-mail from my line manager telling me just to do it. I then have to delay the urgent work I was working simply because this person said jump. Further to this, if I said no to a request because it was not physical possible to deliver he would against raise this with his line manager and my negative would be discussed in the next director's meeting (my line manager is a director). Further to this, he would pass the work he was suppose to be doing for me to complete. I complied with these requests because I was new and didn't want to be seen as negative. He would also pass all his mistakes to me to fix and then firmly place the blame on me. I was patient with all this. I conducted myself well in meetings and continue our friendship outside work as if none of this was happening. We did discuss what was happening at work and he said his attitude was being driven my his line manager. I wasn't too convince my this explanation as I had seen this behaviour in meetings when his line manager was not present. I explain to him what the impact was to me and he said there was nothing he could do about this. Over time people within the organisation realised I was good at my job so started to come direct to me with their requests and started to ignore this colleague's demands that he be involved. He started to get more controlling of my workload and demanded that I updated him regularly with the status of all my work. Remember he is not my superior, doesn't work in my department. One day I simply had enough so went to my line manager to discuss this behaviour. My line manager asked me to put this in writing and he would take in to the Director of that department. I was initially careful not to name names because what if it was the Head driving this attitude. When my line manager asked 'it's x isn't it?', I explained the situation about the Head and his response that it was b*llsh*t (his exact response). He promised me initial feedback before the end of the week as he was going on holiday but never did. At this time I was offered another job but I didn't want to leave if my situation at my current job was to be resolved, so I spoke to HR in my line manager's absence. They promised to follow this all up and reassured me that they would do their best to help me. They also questioned how I was finding working with my line manager, which surprised me. I explained that he was an absent line manager and had told me he expected me to manage myself. I had no 1:2:1s with him, he never officially approved my holidays and if I needed to request something or had a problem it was best to speak to one of the other senior managers. I also explained that I never received notification that I had passed my probation period. When asked what I felt could be done, I simply said 'I think he needs an administrator for that department'. Shortly after this conversation with HR my situation worsen. This colleague was becoming even more controlling. He would complain about me if I didn't turn up for meetings (I was on holiday or had clashes). He started to question my productivity with my team members and my line manager. I approached him about this and he said 'if I can't see what you are doing then you're not doing anything'. I explained that his only concern should be the work I do for his department. His response was "I'm the xxx expert!". I stepped away at this point. Others in the company became aware of his behaviour towards me and approached me to let me know that they also had problems with this colleague. They also said they were happy I had joined and were grateful that I was taking control of the situation as they never liked having to go through this person to send a request to the person whoever is doing my role. This colleague approached me in a bar to discuss my concerns. He said he missed our chats over coffee (I stopped them because he would report into his line manager plus...) and drinks after work (he started to decline my invites on the basis he was too busy or too tires but I would see him in the local bar 5 minutes later (all he had to say was I'm going out with other people) the other reason for no coffee chats). I told him that I did not wish to discuss as it was not the time nor the place. I was out drinking with friends and wanted to have a good evening. He persisted so I left. The next day my line manager called me into his office to discuss 'informal complaints' made against me to HR. He gave me names, the colleague, his head and the director of this department, and asked me if I was surprised that had complained about me. I was given what had happened the night before and told my manager what happened in the bar. My line manager then proceeded to tell me that these 3 people had asked him to dismiss me in favour of my team colleague who had just recently started (they are very friendly with the Head). He then says he is going through a difficult divorce and really doesn't want another issues on top of that. Immediately I realised that this wasn't right and I needed to get out. I was meeting a friend after work that day and did so. I bumped into a colleague from my department and all 3 of us drunk a lot of wine and had an amazing time. My colleague and I rushed to get the last train home (we live on the same line) and while doing so bumped into this difficult colleague. I ignored him, my colleague stopped to talk to him. The difficult colleague asked how I was and I grumbled okay. He persisted on asking on how I really was and I said 'you should know having reported me to HR'. I honestly can't remember his response but I burst into tears. Difficult tried to comforted me by hugging me and told him not to but again he persisted. My department colleague rescued me and made sure I got home okay. The next day, when I had sobered up, I realised I shouldn't said what I did plus it was embarrassing for Difficult to have an emotion drunk to deal with so I apologised in writing. He accepted my apology and said he understood why I was so upset and suggested we moved on from this situation. At the same time, I was too upset to come into work so I contacted a senior manager to discuss this. I explained the situation and he agreed that it was obvious that the ENTIRE situation was becoming too much for me, so to work from home that day. I started to write a work diary that day. I needed to record what happened throughout the day. The non-productivity accusations worried me and I was now being accused of something unknown. I also make an appointment with the work counsellor as my mental health is now starting to deteriorate. I'm not sleeping and I have panic attacks as I am approaching the office - I'm constantly later as a result. I tell my line manager about my sleep problems and he says it's to do with the heat. After the station situation my relationship with Difficult improved and my team colleague mentioned that I seemed happier. Fast forward a week and Difficult is back to his old behaviour. He asked me to change a function in the system I manage - I can't it's standard and can not be customised. He threatens to report me to the Head, and does. I go straight to my line manager, who tells me I am reading to much into this. I explain the threat is in writing and you can clearly see it, but am happy to let it lie. I explain I am writing my work diary. For the next two days my line manager checks on my whereabouts. Even when I've just popped out for lunch for 20 minutes. The assumption is he needs to see me so I ask him if he does. He says he is only checking on who is in the office. I tell the colleague he asked this and the response is 'that's odd, he never asked about anyone else and I was the only one here'. Again I realised something is not right but I've nothing to worry about, I've done nothing wrong by popping next door to get a sandwich. As a matter of fact, I'm working my lunch as usual. The following Monday, the suspension happened and you know about that. My new team colleague. They've been brought over from the States and was promised the job long before I came along. They advertised my job for them as a formality. I didn't know this nor did the person who use to do the job. I met my predecessor for coffee to discuss the position and they advise me against applying due to 'office politics'. It was my dream job so I proceed to apply. I never heard back after I applied so assumed I didn't get the job. I got a random phone call from a headhunting agency asking me if I would like to work for this company as a contractor. I jumped at the chance. Just as I was about to sign a contract I got a call asking if I had applied for a permanent role and would I prefer that. Of course I said yes. Two weeks after I started my job was advertised, I approached my line manager and asked why this was so. He explained about the American applicant and that this was a formality. He gave me the job because he needed someone to start immediately and it would take a long time to get them over from the States. Not to worry, we would both be doing the same job as equals as we complimented each other. They arrived thinking they were my manager and upon realising they weren't immediately started 'promoting' themselves. They also refused to speak to me for an entire week because they hadn't been set-up on the system (our line manager forgot to tell the department they were starting therefore we weren't expecting them). I broke all the rules to get them access, they hadn't been through all the security checks. I dealt with HR on their behalf because our line manager hadn't completed the necessary documentation. They reduced me to tears during this time and a senior manager took them to one side to explain it wasn't my fault. Possibly not relevant but my new team colleague crashing the website for 3 hours because the credit card configuration in the database did not match the way it was in the US. So they deleted them. They never got into trouble for this and it was never discussed. It was treated as a joke. We lost a lot of money. I get into trouble if I make a spelling mistake!! My colleagues and I wrote it off and moved on. The conference, my line manager tells us both we can go. My difficult colleague tells two of us from the same team can't go. When I say my line manager has given me permission as always he says he is reporting it to his line manager. I go straight to mine who tells me to ignore this and book the conference. However this intensifies and I hold off; the same thing happened with the last conference I was asked to attend and I had to cut it short as a result. I speak to my colleague about this and they say they have already booked. I remind them that one of us may not be going now and they say 'not their problem'. Again not worried because I do want to leave. Fast forward a couple of weeks and Difficult asks why I have not booked for the conference. This same situation happens with the bi-monthly network meeting. Both of us can't be out of the office at the same time so I suggest we take it in turns. I was too busy to attend the last one, so my colleague attended. When the next is in the diary I ask my colleague if they are still happy that it is my turn to attend. They get aggressive and say our line manager what them to go. I'm confused and feeling slightly upset with all this. It's now becoming apparent this new colleague is favoured over me. They are now taking my projects from me without asking first. I catch them telling another colleague that my work is not up to standard and they need to redo it. I've not received any feedback to suggest this. I raise this with them and they say I am interfering with their work, I remind them it was once my work. The response is "I'm only trying to help". I tell them I happy for them to do so but please ask first. Actually if they asked I would be happy to give them some of my projects. A few weeks later they complain they have too much work to do.

Thanks Sangie for being the voice of reason I took the 'I suggest you stick to advice from your lawyer who presumably has the whole story' to be aggressive. I understand where this now came from. Thanks for the advice about the solicitor. Don't worry I will not be departing with any money, I can't afford to. I will see what this solicitor has to say during the initial consultation. A friend upon hearing what had happen put me in contact with the solicitor by the way on an introduction e-mail so contact was already made before I could say 'thanks' or 'no thanks'. Then these ex-colleagues got in contact and they encouraged me to get the free legal advice. I will let you know what this solicitor has to say.