Exhausted with this mess

[wally0163]

I have posted on here over the last few months and cannot beleive that I still am allowing my employer to carry on doing what it is doing.

 

I work for a large housing association, and live on site, last year I was assaulted by a resident it went to court and the resident appealed it ended up that the resident was charged with common assault

 

Since then for around 15 months I have been subject to complaint after complaint accusation, allegation all from the same source ie the resident and a minority of the residents supporters.

 

I have had investigation after investigation

 

About four months ago after the appeal case I was given special leave as it was very traumatic for me and I was treated by the doctor, however during that time I was made aware that a senior manager was carrying out investigations in relation to me being drunk on duty!!! having Munchausens by proxy, mishandling of monies ect ect, during this time the (special leave this manager would ring me up and ask to meet me, he would take me to the local pub and grill me on all aspects of my job, he decided that he would grant me a further three weeks special leave, during this time he completely went through my office, all my personal effects were removed, bagged up and put in a cupboard.

 

The meetings continued in this period, he had to pick me up outside on the main road and the questions continued.

 

I was then invited to a back to work interview which was nothing to do with coming back to work but another grilling except this time he included what he referred to is breaching professional boundaries, which was nothing more than hearsay, however he accused me of being drunk on duty which I felt was disgusting.

 

I was keen to get back to work and keen to move on, on my return I raised a grievance in line with company policy against this managers unorthodox way of `informal investigation`

 

Part of the greivance was upheld however management appeared to close ranks and he began what can only be described as a which hunt.

 

I have been back to work now for about ten weeks and on the whole things have been quite good, I have a temp manager who has been a breath of frsh air however the senior manager is her manager.

 

During this time I have been back I had a couple of days annual leave but got called into work by a contractor, I rang my temp manager and told her I would be working.

Who turned up this day but the senior manager who was very surprized to see me and was very sarcastic, he explained that he was here to see some residents, he did not tell me who and ended up staying 5 and a half hours.

 

What transpired from this was a letter had been received from the same source with another host of allegations and he was here to investigate.

 

Friday I cooked a wonderful lunch with 20 plus residents my temp manager joined us and then after this she sat me down and stated she had to suspend me

I recieved a letter with several accusatios on these included

 

calling the person who assaulted me a paedophile

Asking a resident to make me a doctors appointment

Failure to let rsidents know in a timely manner that a BBQ was cancelled

Failure to respond to a resident who needed assistance, tardiness

Nusciance telephone calls from the office

 

 

 

My letter stated that a new investigation would be carried out and that I was on pre cautionary suspension

 

Of course I am absolutely beside myself and so exhausted with it all

I feel my next step is to persue a bullying and harrasment in line with company procedure, this manager is one of the big suits though so this is very daunting.

 

Can anyone advise on what I can do next I am just astounded how this has transpired

[wally0163]

Any advice please

[Fuzzgin]

I'm not the best person to advise but when I was bullied at work (and this sounds similar) I was advised to collect as much evidence as I could, copies of letter, emails, dates of meetings. Above all to keep a log of everything that happened.

 

You may have been through this before, but are you in a union?

[wally0163]

I have collected loads of stuff but I am being refused copies of the third party allegations because it would breach their confidentiality, however one of these letters from this person was sent electronically by the company and the allegations on their are just ridiculous, now I am on pre cautious suspension, holed up in my house on site at my workplace I dont think I can take another six weeks of this

[Fuzzgin]

Have you been to the doctor and been signed off? This level of stress would make anyone ill.

[wally0163]

No I am not signed off but have been on antidepressants for about eight months now I just cant live like this anymore

[Mr Government]

Sorry to hear your story, you seem to be a victim of persistant complaint from your previous action. It would very important for you now to keep a diary of day to day events. Do not attend any meetings without having somebody to support you. Ask for all meetings to be minuted and copies given. Dont lose your temper at your manager. make a written request for details of all complaints made against you in the last year. Speak to ACAS.

Write a statement about how you feel that you are being subjected to malicious behaviour from one person due to previous court case, and ask how your employers plans to protect you from any further incidents. At the moment your employer are focusing on the other person complaints, which of course they must investigate, but at the same time you need to raise the issue about being a victim and what action will the employer take to protect you. This is important so that you can have evidence on your employers lack of support, and failiure to protect you from your residents behaviour.

[wally0163]

thankyou for that i have done most of that however they wont give me copies of the complaints as they need permission from the person that made them however I was sent a copy of a meeting that took place by mistake where it lays out allegations such as having manchausens by proxy drinking whilst on duty, calling this person a paedophile the list goes on and I have not got this illness and neither have I done these other things, most of this was investigated last year and was unfounded, I cant even go outside my door because if i do I meet residents and I am not allowed to talk to them it is an unending nightmare, I have already lost 3.7 stone in weight

[Mr Government]

"calling the person who assaulted me a paedophile

Asking a resident to make me a doctors appointment

Failure to let rsidents know in a timely manner that a BBQ was cancelled

Failure to respond to a resident who needed assistance, tardiness

Nusciance telephone calls from the office"

 

Obviously you need to start and prepare your responses to the above complaints, and I have no doubt that you can clear them all, especially the alleged name calling, as it would be your word against his, and without any eyewitness then the issue will have to be dismissed. And the telephone call should be easy as you can ask for a copy of the bill to identify the date/time of the calls. Do forget to have representation at the meeting. Also ask to see evidence to support the allegations, if they cannot provide any, then they dont really have a case do they. They cannot condem people on "hearsay".

 

If you are being investigated over a complaint which could result in loss of employment you have a right to know what the complaint is and where it came from. dont accept their excuses, your not asking to see the original written complaint but the mere facts so that you can adequately prepare your defence.

 

You also need to look at the long term, if the residents are causing most of the problems, and they are the client of the housing association then you are looking at an unhappy future, as the housing association will most probably look after the interests of its clients. You should discretley start to look for another job, this may take a while but the sooner you start the better.

 

This is not ideal, but you are facing a long term issue with the residents which has already affected your health.

[Wobbling_Wookie]

I would ask for copies of the allegations made and suggest they use a marker pen to hide any personal information. That way they will not breach anyone's privacy rights and gets around their processes.

[wally0163]

I have done this but they still refuse to release documents, does anyone know about constructive dismissal please

[alex2258867]

Hi Wally,

 

To prove 'constructive dismissal' you must show that your employers made your work life so onerous that you had no option but to quit. And judging by what you are saying, you may have a case.

 

This is clearly having an adverse affect on your health and lifestyle. You are practically a prisoner in your own home. Your employers have shown a blatant disregard for your well being and your treatment is nothing short of monstrous.

 

I would seek advice. An expert in this field will be able to tell you immediately if you have a case. It may cost you £50.00 or so for an initial consultation, but worth every penny if you have a case.

 

I'm unsure if there are any 'no win, no fee' companies out there who would take on this type of case. Could someone advise the OP if there is?

 

Stay strong, you will get all the help you need right here

 

Alex

[wally0163]

Well there has been further dvelopments and further allegations that beggar belief I am on my fourth week of suspension and the company told me they would bring in someone who is totally impartial.

Well a lady arrived from out the area and made an appointment with me.

 

The allegations ranged from being aggressive to residents, alleging someone was dead when she wasnt !!!

Forming a click ect ect.

My interview was for two hours in my home, this lady then set about interviewing residents.

Residents are in uproar and have sent letters in of support and petitions ect.

The person making the complaints has now informed Social Services so it is getting really bad, all I can do is answer what they ask and dispute what I can.

Friday of last week I was made aware by a residents who was interviewed he was disgusted as he was asked if he had heard my daughter having sex in the guest room, you can imagine what this has done.

No one from the company will answer my emails, I have had one call from HR and am beside myself with anger and I am so ill

Dont know where to go

[monkeychicken]

Can you bring an ET claim against your employer for discrimination (race, sex, disability etc) or any of the other areas under their jurisdiction?

 

Are you in an Union?

 

Also you may be covered by your household insurance.

 

Seek legal advice, even if it is from Citizens advice.

[jackieandwayne]

Wally, have you told your GP you are holed up in the house? Just because of this, your employer cannot keep you a prisoner. Your GP should be advising you to go out and have walks, fresh air etc. So, you go out if you want to, do what you like to take your mind off it. Just don't speak to anyone as you go. If you get collared by a resident just say you are sorry you cannot speak to them and carry on. Had you thought, that if you are not on site, and this egit continues to complain, eventually you will be accused of something when you were not even on site?

 

Have the company offered you welfare and support through this? They have a duty to look out for you whatever the circumstances.

 

This sounds dreadful, at least I am out of my situation in the office, just keep posting up as things progress.

[wally0163]

Thanks everyone

I have had limited contact with anyone from the company, of course there is the employee assistance programme.

I have now taken out Bullying and harrassment at work but this is against a very senior manager who I beleive has coerced under managers to try to falsify their findings, and if he had managed this situation in the first place I would not be in this position.

I have been in this house now for five weeks it is like being under house arrest and I am a mere shadow of what I was, I have lost four stone, I was only a size 14 before so there is not much room to lose anymore, I just cannot eat, sleep or do anything, I beleive this will be the endof me and I too am 45 and feel 85.

I am looking for housing and think I will resign and I will never work in this job again.

I hope you are feeling better in yourself, although its not nice knowing there are other people going trhrough the same thing it kind of helps to be able to post.

Thanks for you help

Wally

[labrat]

i wouldnt quit...

 

if you have residents signing petitions supporting you then you are obviously good at your job.

 

just because someone seems to have a grudge i would not let them ruin your life, this was obviously a job that you have enjoyed for a long time.

 

if you do feel forced to quit put the full reasons in the letters

 

as one of these i would also put not dealing with the matter in a satisfactory time frame.

 

point out that under employment law you are entitled to see any complaints before meetings with the employers to collect evidence and make a case against these allagations

 

you are also allowed to have a work collegue - of your choice to sit in on these meetings, if they do not allow time to arrange this postpone the meeting

 

never feel your alone - theres many people on these boards go through the same thing

[monkeychicken]

Do not give up.

 

I have been suspended for over two and a half years before I managed to find evidence to prove my case.

 

So can you

[wally0163]

It is astounding what people are going through on here, I go to sleep wishing I would not wake up and thats very selfish I know but I cannot take this anymore, I just want to get on with my life, thankyou so much for all your help

[wally0163]

Does anyone know if you take out a Bullying and Harrassment at work does it have to be specifically geared to one person or can it be against the company itself

[wally0163]

Had an email today following a statement about bullyig and harrassment i submitted from HR where they state that i raised some concerns in a previous greviance which have been dealt with however I was trying to present a case.

Allegations that they are still investigating are over a year old, I am now waiting for them to obtain tapes from a call I made where a person was very ill and I had to carry out CPR they are waiting for tapes to verify what I am saying and that I was not drunk, this happened last November.

I am still on precautionary suspension, residents have now approached the local press and radio, all I keep thinking is that I am going to be homeless for christmas, is there anyone out there who can give further advice, I just keep hitting a brick wall and am just getting weaker and weaker with it all

[jackieandwayne]

You will not be homeless for Xmas.

 

What I would do now Wally, is go tomorrow and see an employment solicitor, who should take on your case, and stop this bloody circus in its tracks, and find out who the highest bod is in the organisation and then let him know what is going on.

 

How many things are they going to end up paying for? Stress, ill health, false accusation, assault and then not protecting you so on and so forth.

 

You going to have to do what I did, however tough it is, whatever mood you are in, now start getting bloody angry and fight back. Think personal injury claim etc etc.

 

Nobody, not one person, has the right to treat you like this.

 

I've just submitted an appeal as my grievance was not upheld, but I'll have those buggers one way or the other for what they've put me through, now come on, you do the same.

 

Just keep on posting up, you have a lot of support on here.

[wally0163]

Hi Jackieand Wayne

Thanks so much I just feel so downtrodden and exhausted and no one seems to listen I cannot beleive how weak and helpless I feel, I cannot ever imagine it being normal again, I wish I could get angry and I appreciate your comments, thankyou

[jackieandwayne]

Yeah well, I felt as though I'd been hit in the head with a sledge hammer! You just have to stand up for yourself, however hard that is. I truly believe that one of the reasons people get bullied is because they are nice mild decent people, who are very popular because of these traits. We can be easy victims for a pernicious bully.

 

But, the only way Wally is to fight back. You've been wronged here, seriously and your mental health has been affected. None of it is your fault, and you, as an employee have rights.

 

Just try to get your mind set changed to angry - it helps.

[wally0163]

Well it keeps moving on my residents have called the press and they are waiting for them now as we speak