Have been suspended..... - ** RETURNED TO WORK **

[Smufter]

Good morning all.

I'm hoping somebody can give me a little advice on a problem I have at work at the moment?

 

Basically, I have just been suspended from work for something that supposedly happened one evening earlier this week.

I have been accused of bullying by a female member of staff.

She claims that I had a disagreement with her during the day (which I accept) and that just before leaving for home that evening I approached her desk, "red faced and in a rage" and proceeded to launch a torrent of verbal abuse at her whilst leaning over her desk in an aggressive manner with my fists on her table. This upset her and made her feel threatened, she burst into tears after I had left and has lodged a formal complaint about my behaviour.

I was off work the following day (normal weekly day off) but received a text message from my sales manage saying that I needed to make sure I was in early the following day to attend an 8.30 meeting.

I was eventually called to the meeting at 12.30 which was held with my general manager, not my sales manager. He immediately warned me that an official complaint had been received and that this could be going "legal".

I immediately asked if I could have somebody present to witness what was being said, but this was refused on the basis that this was just going to be a discussion between him and I to let me read the letter of complaint and for him to hear my side of events and to answer other allegations that had been made against me. This discussion was recorded (with my consent) by the way.

It was immediately apparent (once I started reading the letter) that this was being blown out of all proportion. I had not approached my work colleague in a rage, and had not leant over her table aggressively. I had gone to talk to her calmly before I went home as I didn't want there to be an atmosphere at work due to the disagreement that had occurred earlier in the day. I had stood by her desk in a non threatening manner, had tried to resolve the issue as best I could but she became aggressive herself, swearing at me. Now this whole incident was recorded on CCTV camera, and when I asked my general manager if he had viewed the footage he said he had. When I then asked if it had shown I was acting in an aggressive manner he immediately replied "to me it looked as if you could have been discussing football or something" which indicated to me that it didn't, although he wouldn't admit as much.

Aside from the allegations of what happened earlier this week, my work colleague is stating that there has been a history of my repeatedly belittling her and "bullying" her, which I refute.

I have text messages on my phone from her, some as recently as 6 or 7 days ago where she has replied or sent me texts with kisses on the end of them. I find it hard to believe that somebody who feels she has been bullied or belittled would send text messages of this kind.

As I say, I have been suspended for 10 days (paid) whilst further investigation are carried out.

Thoughts?

Sorry for the long rambling post, but I am really worried about this as it could cost me my job.

[Emmzzi]

1. suspension is a neutral act

2. you dont get to decide if she felt bullied by your behaviour

3. kisses prove nothing

4. but if you have done nothing wrong you have nothing to fear

5. process so far is fine

[Smufter]

Thanks very much for your response Emmzzi. Much appreciated.

As an aside, I was instructed by my general manager that I must not contact the colleague concerned. It stands to reason that I will not be doing this.

But another colleague of mine has let me know this morning that he received a telephone call from my our sales manager yesterday and he has been instructed not to talk to me about this.

Is this permissible?

[Lookingforjustice]

Grievances and grievance enquiries are usually adjudged on the balance of probabilities. I would hold onto your texts messages as to me someone who feels threatened or bullied is unlikely to be closing their text messages to their boss with a kiss and I strongly suspect you won't be getting anymore from her! You should have a look at your company policies or get your HR office to send them to you. Suspension may be said to be a 'neutral' act but for anyone who has ever been suspended it can cause harm and depending how managed by the company professional reputational damage. The company owe you a duty of care and is it their policy to immediately suspend someone where there is an allegation of bullying? Seems a bit rash a few grievances and they will be without their management, but it can be useful to separate the complainant and the person they feel threatened by. Depends how big your company is. Also take a look at their disciplinary procedures to ensure they are not confused. Your staff member may have still been feeling upset from your disagreement earlier on, reacted badly to your later approach and blames you for upsetting her. Some good faith actions can be misinterpreted by others as something else. If however you were banging your fist on the desk red with rage you've got a problem. The CCTV sounds as though it will be a great help in sorting that out. If you have a Union rep it would be a good time to contact them. If you feel at the end there is a perverse decision against you in the enquiry then try to secure a copy of the CCTV at the earliest stage or failing that an undertaking from the company that they will retain the video. Unless there are witnesses who support your staff members version of previous events the CCTV appears to be the only tangible evidence in this. I fully understand you might be feeling a bit insecure at the moment so take a look at the ACAS website on grievances/discipline or speak to the Citizens Advice Bureau. It will just give you some knowledge into what is going on as and to maximise the options you have in the future. I think once you've done that and taken a little control back over the situation it might be easier to sit back and enjoy your extra 10 days off. The most difficult thing is to repair the manager employee working relationship when the grievance isn't upheld because the staff member is likely to be feeling very vulnerable and sensitive and might feel like you are treading on eggshells for a while.

[Smufter]

Thanks for your reply LFJ. Firstly, I must point out that I am not her sales manager, I am on the sales force with her.

I can understand why they have suspended me. There is an atmosphere at work and it would only make it worse if I were there. So no problems on that score.

Unfortunately, during the discussion I had with my general manager yesterday things got a little heated when I saw the extent of the allegations she was making against me. Not so heated that I lost my rag, but I was getting a little vocal.

Thing were being levelled at me that maybe go back a year or more.

I then bought into the mix the fact the this person had stolen something from me in September last year, reward points that are given to us individually for sales achievements. She falsely claimed sales that she knew were mine so that she could purchase an iPod for herself with the proceeds. I only found out about this when I went to claim them for myself a few weeks later and she came over and confessed to what she had done. I didn't report it at the time as we genuinely had a good working relationship and she promised to repay them to me at a later date.

Maybe I shouldn't have mentioned it, but I just wanted to get my point across that she is not always as innocent as she comes across.

I can guarantee that if I had done this to her, I would have been facing a theft claim at that time.

[Emmzzi]

This sounds to me like a lovers tiff. I think you need to step back and not say anything else that implies an overly close working relationship. Also you should have reported the points at the time. Which is another problem!!

[Madhatter1]

I also strongly agree to keep things basic. Dont say anything that is not relevant to the case. Just hope that the manager didnt take notice to your "story" It may be true but thats how it will be looked at. Tit for tat and thats never going to look good.

 

Just reply to the specific allegation and nothing more. Getting personal about her is just going to show immaturity and even though she may be doing it, you need to show you are not that person she is making you out to be. If I was the manager and you started getting a bit vocal it would probably make me beleive that this happened when you spoke to the the girl.

 

A old work mate at a old job accused me of stealing something that she had stolen herself ( I knew about it but didnt want to get dragged into it) Obviously once the allegations came to me I wasnt best please but I maintained my cool and made sure I thought about each of my replies before replying. Dont worry about taking a few moments before answering questions. In the end I managed to prove I was innocent and she resigned before being sacked. I did however get a warning for not reporting what she had done first. So a lesson to be learned. I also thought she was my friend, Friendly texts and even met for a few drinks once. So in future never leave something because you feel you have a obligation of being a friend not to do it. Im now only work friend with my work colleagues to avoid this if ever an event like this happens again.

 

I cant really advice much more as I dont know my law as well as the others do but remeber keep your calm and always think about your answers before answering them. Even right down some quesions you think could be fired at you and sit and work out some good answers for them. I do this for interviews and its always proved to be a useful tool because I can answer a question quickly making it look like its my natural answer if that makes sense.

 

Take theses 10 free days off to build your defence many people see it as punishment but you can really use it to your advantage. You have the bonus that you know what its about and even the report many people dont know this until they have been called to a GM meeting. Use it wisely

[Emmzzi]

Thanks very much for your response Emmzzi. Much appreciated.

As an aside, I was instructed by my general manager that I must not contact the colleague concerned. It stands to reason that I will not be doing this.

But another colleague of mine has let me know this morning that he received a telephone call from my our sales manager yesterday and he has been instructed not to talk to me about this.

Is this permissible?

 

Yes, it is normal to prevent contact in the investigation stage. Reduces number of jointly invented stories.

[Smufter]

Thanks very much for the replies everybody. Some good advice there and I will take it all on board.

Just as an aside, I received a telephone call yesterday afternoon from my general manager, the one that held the initial interview with me.

He wanted to keep me up to date with the situation.

He said that he had carried out five interviews during the day with other members of staff, and had two more to carry out early next week.

He then reminded me that the fact that I had been suspended was not to be looked on as being guilty, but he had to separate the pair of us whilst they looked into the allegations. I told him that I completely understood this, and accepted it.

He also said that whilst I was being paid during my suspension, he was aware that a large percentage of my salary is made up of commission, so he has put some money aside to compensate me for this so that I don't lose out financially.

He wants to get this sorted as soon as possible so have advised me that I am likely to get a telephone call sometime during the middle of next week to go in for another meeting.

He has always come across as a very fair manager and I think that this proves he is.

My one big hope is that the CCTV footage is scrutinised very carefully. I know that I didn't approach this member of staff in an aggressive manner and I also know that the footage will verify this.

Thanks once again.

[Lookingforjustice]

I hope the telephone call is as good as you think it is. I still don't know how big your company is but I would have preferred a manager who was independent to be carrying out the enquires. The separation is appropriate and trying to reassure you that the matter is being looked at in a fair and 'proportionate' manner is part of the process. Don't be misled into believing the manager is on side. The fact that the manager is 'interviewing' staff makes me nervous. Tit for tat doesn't look good at this stage you can keep the moral high ground but you do need to be sure under which process this is being looked at and exactly what is being looked at. They don't seem to be levelling any specific disciplinary charges against you but maybe going down that line and I'm not sure on your company policy but suspension to me says disciplinary and not a grievance enquiry. You must ask in writing under what procedure they are pursuing these enquiries, and anything you are told get it in writing. It's amazing how if these things escalate people's memories become defective. So to your manager and in relation to his recent call, I would send an email saying to your manager to the effect thank you for you update going on to say 'I am of course pleased to hear that along with being suspended on full paid any losses of commission will be compensated for upon my return. I would continue to say that you are extremely concerned seeing the extent of xxxx's grievance going back over such a long period when none of the alleged matters were raised earlier or in the appropriate manner. ' Ask him under what company policy he is proceeding and could copies of those policies be forwarded to you together with a copy of the cctv which you believe will exonerate you and clarity on exactly what is being looked at. Get it in writing. Don't be bamboozled by obligatory niceties from your manager. This is vitally important to you. If this enquiry drags on you have three months minus one FROM THE EVENT to put in an ET1 if you need to go to a tribunal. This date may be the date of the incident. So your ET date could be three months from then minus one day. I guarantee your employer knows this and is counting. Lots of Employers seem drag out processes because the easiest way to prevent you getting justice if this escalates is to convince the court your case/claim can't be heard because you are out of time.

 

What has happened cannot be undone. Apart from your relationship with this female colleague being damaged, the worry that you are going through, there are now at least seven people who have been spoken to who have been dragged into this. Witnesses are notoriously unreliable, some will be truthful, some truths are distorted by their feelings towards the individuals involved and some right in the middle will have total amnesia because they just don't want to become involved. In these situations I believe you find friends you didn't know you had and people who you thought were friends just aren't. You may find yourself treading on eggshells going back worried if she or someone else misinterprets everything you say or if everything you say will be twisted against you in the future. You would be wise to protect yourself. This is a person who valued an Ipod over you and her own integrity.

 

There is the chance your company may have gone straight into a disciplinary enquiry and you may find your initial talk with your manager when you were first informed of the complaint has been paraphrased by your manager and included 'in the enquiries'. This was the one where you asked if it was appropriate to have someone with you. The fact that you were told it may be going 'legal' to me was a reason that you should have had the opportunity to have someone with you.

 

If someone claimed commission which was rightfully mine especially because they wanted to buy an Ipod I would have rectified this at the time. a) it is a strong indication of the character of the person and b) commission to me is an indication of the work being undertaken by that individual eg wrongly claiming your success rates. In these days of recession successful sales people must be more attractive to a company than those who are not so successful so claiming your work. Whilst not relevant to the current enquiry this may be good evidence in the future if you go onto proceedings to demonstrate the character of the complainant. Be aware they are likely to claim you agreed to this beforehand so if you have evidence that you submitted a claim for the same commission only to find it had already been claimed that might help. You are not her manager so in order to maintain good working relations it is understandable that some people wouldn't take it further. Don't make that mistake again, if they don't value you enough not to in effect steal from you both professionally and financially then to hell with them! I have a sneaky suspicion that you liked this person and were flattered by the texts with the x on and as a consequence didn't handle the situation as well as you could have done and got walked over.

 

You are in the prep stage in case the outcome of whatever enquiry going on is not what you expect or it is but the consequence of the decision still has repercussions remain ongoing. Maybe the video exonerates you for the incident that caused the complaint and people are being interviewed in relation to the other parts of the complaint. Complaints should be raised within a reasonable time, normally three months of an incident taking place. I know if the video exonerated me I would be arguing that anything else was just put in as padding because been asked to defend yourself on things that may or may not have happened a year ago is unjust. There was nothing to stop the matter being raised to a manager at the time or if unsatisfied with then a timely complaint being put in.

 

Some people find the changed atmosphere upon return to work, not just with the complainant but also those brought into the situation so difficult and stressful upon return and the position that they find themselves in amounts to constructive dismissal because you are left in an atmosphere which is untenable to continue working. Trying to work in such an atmosphere where you feel you can no longer be yourself and constantly worried someone else might make a complaint against you, can actually make you so ill you aren't able to work.

 

If the company had any sense they should realise that in these cases it is normally the innocent person who is likely to be going legal. Prepare for the worst and then anything less than that will be a bonus. Are you aware of anyone else in the company who has ever received a complaint and were they 'suspended'. Apart from describing the incident which sounds like an accusation of bullying are the other incidents going back over time suggesting more than bullying ie some sort of discrimination?

 

Thoughts are with you in this difficult time.

[Lookingforjustice]

In connection with the colleague who has been instructed not to talk to you about this. It is normal in the enquiry/investigation stage until they have been spoken to. This is a difficult one because if the employee receives a direct instruction from the company they could be liable to disciplinary action if they ignore it. However once they have been spoken to, even if there has been a written declaration taken from them in the enquiry, there is no ownership of witnesses and you should advise you manager you may wish to revisit some of the witnesses in relation to matters concerning your defence of the accusations and they should be advised of that. This comes if you are to proceed to a disciplinary hearing in any case and you should be able to speak to who you like although there is no obligation on anyone to cooperate with you. However if someone has given information to one side and refuses to speak and answer questions that may assist the other side, I would argue with a disciplinary panel (and ET) that no weight be given to their evidence as is isn't balanced. ie they have not been asked about events or willing to clarify matters that support you. Grievances, disciplinary processes and Employment tribunals all judge on the balance of probabilities so it's a valid argument for you to use.

[Lookingforjustice]

Write and ask the nature of the meeting you are to be called to next week. I would want to bring a Union rep or someone with a bit of experience of these matters to be present. I know you are not expecting it, but you are advised of something adverse you want a witness and maybe take advice from CAB or solicitor for this. If it's going further then I wouldn't say anything until you get further advice no matter how tempting it may be. The company may also tell you that the grievance has not been upheld and that's the end of the matter. They might like it to be the end of the matter for them, but remember you have other options depending on how things pan out when you return. Keep them open and hope you never have to use them but if you do, they are there and you've stayed prepared. People can get upset by a stance you take professionally but if they then fabricate allegations against you that's malicious. Stay absolutely professional with this woman and if she sends an x on her office texts tell her it is inappropriate. Keep the boundaries. Let us know the outcome next week good luck

[Smufter]

Hi. Thanks for all the responses and I apologise for not letting you know the outcome sooner. I had a holiday planned for last week and have just returned from this. Upshot is that I got a further call towards the end of the first week asking me to attend a meeting with the Managing Director, and was told to wear my "work" clothes.

The meeting went very well, the MD was very sympathetic and basically told me that they were not going to continue with the disciplinary procedure any further as the evidence that they had did not support the allegations made against me. Interviews had been held with other members of staff, and all of them were in support of me and I was basically told to report back to my job.

I don't know what has been said to the other member of staff regarding the theft of my property, basically I don't want to know....I'm just glad it's all over.

My line manager has been very supportive too, and he is annoyed that this member of staff also implicated him with her allegations.

Apparently it's not the first time she has made allegations of this type, and I think she has lost a lot of face with other members of staff.

She is on two weeks holiday at the moment so I am back at work, beavering away, just trying to forget about the whole thing.

I have learnt something from this and will, in future, keep my relationship with her purely businesslike (not that there was anything other than that going on in the first place, but we did share quite a lot of banter that had the possibility of being taken "too" far by both parties).

Thanks once again for your advice and support.

Rob

[Emmzzi]

Glad it worked out.

 

The workplace is no place for "banter," please consider that not just with this one person, but with everyone.

[Smufter]

Glad it worked out.

 

The workplace is no place for "banter," please consider that not just with this one person, but with everyone.

 

Trouble is, in a sales environment with lots of "egos" around, it's sometimes difficult to remember that!

[Emmzzi]

Hmm. Well, you keep on making excuses, we'll see you back again....

[Smufter]

Hmm. Well, you keep on making excuses, we'll see you back again....

 

Errrrr....do I keep on making excuses???

[Emmzzi]

ye. "it's a sales environment." I've worked in plenty of sales environments where people are capable of treating each other with respect.

[Smufter]

ye. "it's a sales environment." I've worked in plenty of sales environments where people are capable of treating each other with respect.

 

I was stating that it is a sale environment and banter goes on. It was my first reference to it, I hardly call that "keep making excuses". It was a statement of fact.

I have been in sales for 26 years, albeit with various companies over that time.

This is the 1st time I have ever been called into a disciplinary meeting and as such I was worried about the outcome, hence my request for information and guidance.

As I say, I have learnt from this and will ensure that I don't put myself in this position again.

The fact that this person has made allegations of this type before surely says more about her than me, no?

[honeybee13]

Hello there.

 

I'm pleased this is over for you, and with a good outcome. Thank you for letting us know, I'll change your thread title.

 

My best, HB

[assisted blonde]

well done good result

[Smufter]

Hello there.

 

I'm pleased this is over for you, and with a good outcome. Thank you for letting us know, I'll change your thread title.

 

My best, HB

 

Thank you very much HB

[Lilythepink]

Reading the thread, and so glad that it had a good result, but I am the other way, I have been bullied, and my management moved me, but left the bullies together, so all their stories are the same, even though I have witnesses.

 

Good luck for the future, and great to see a good outcome..

[Lookingforjustice]

Well done. Make sure that you get what was told to you in writing that following an enquiry the allegations were unfounded. They went through a formal process here so you should have your conclusion in writing. An email to the manager recounting what he said and asking for it in writing should suffice. At least if they don't send the outcome in writing you will have the email to refer back to if it is ever needed again.

[Lookingforjustice]

Lily the Pink. Sadly yours is a very common story. Now you know the score ie the bullies gang up and people don't want to take them on as they will fall victim. If I was you and have to have dealings with any of these individuals again make sure you have a tape recorder with you for your own protection! Not good to feel vulnerable at work but this is for your protection only. Do not play to third parties unless required for a court. It is legal but courts don't like it. Only for conversations at which you are present and party to, do not leave the recorder in a room recording others when you are not there. Shame you don't have CCTV in your office too!