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Friend being mistreated at work

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  • Friend being mistreated at work

    Hi guys,

    I have a friend who works for an organisation that houses people with social issues/ex offenders e.t.c.
    About 5 years ago she was a victim of rape. By chance, the guy who was convicted moved into the place where she works about a month ago and started to harrass her. She complained to her supervisor who just moved her to a different floor and advised her that there was nothing he could do unless he actually attacked her or somebody witnessed him behaving aggressive towards her.

    She went above her supervisor and told (whoever he was in higher management) she could not work there while this guy was in the building, so an arrangement was made to have him moved to another location. She was told to turn up at 10am the following day, by which time he would be gone.
    She dubly turned up for work at 10am the following day, only to face this guy on the staircase in the building. He then chased her down 3 flights of stairs and was thankfully restrained by another resident. Following this, Citizen's Advice sent the relevant authoirities to investigate (I don't know who, but I can find out). As a result, her supervisor along with 2 other people were fired and the general manager recieved a written warning.

    She has continued to work there, even though she really doesn't want to be there. However she has learning difficulties and worries that if she leaves, she will have no money and will find it difficult to get another job.

    Today, her boss handed her a letter and told her to go somewhere & read it. This letter is a written warning. It accuses her of stealing cigarrettes (she doesn't smoke!). It also says that she has been seen with residents outside of work, which is nonsense, so I'm guessing they will have to find who saw her and with whom, which will be impossible because it didn't happen. Finally it says that last friday she left open a door that is not supposed to be left open - she wasn't even at work last friday!
    These are not only wrongful accusations, but surely amount to slander!

    I have told her I think she should resign immediately and take that letter to the authorities, but I don't really know who she should talk to or where she can go from here. This really stinks, but again she worries that if she takes any action, she will be without a job and without money. Who is best to talk to? CAB? ACAS? Or someone else?

    Its hard to believe this can happen!
    Tags: None

  • #2
    Re: Friend being mistreated at work

    Is she a member of a trade union ?

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: Friend being mistreated at work

      No. She has worked there for about 6 years tho..

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: Friend being mistreated at work

        ACAS and an employment lawyer would be her best bet.

        Also go back to CAB as they had dealings previously, sounds like she is getting payback wrongly for the dismissal of the two staff and the written warning to the manager.
        "Although scalar fields are Lorentz scalars, they may transform nontrivially under other symmetries, such as flavour or isospin. For example, the pion is invariant under the restricted Lorentz group, but is an isospin triplet (meaning it transforms like a three component vector under the SU(2) isospin symmetry). Furthermore, it picks up a negative phase under parity inversion, so it transforms nontrivially under the full Lorentz group; such particles are called pseudoscalar rather than scalar. Most mesons are pseudoscalar particles." (finally explained to a captivated Celestine by Professor Brian Cox on Wednesday 27th June 2012 )

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        • #5
          Re: Friend being mistreated at work

          Originally posted by Celestine View Post
          sounds like she is getting payback wrongly for the dismissal of the two staff and the written warning to the manager.
          Yes that's what it smells like. Although it's astonishing that they would be so stupid to put this stuff in writing to her. I'm guessing they're relying on her to just get upset and do as she's told, but that letter is pretty much a noose for them..

          Thanks for the reply.

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: Friend being mistreated at work

            There may well be arguments that she is being subject to Constructive Unfair Dismissal; to discrimination on the grounds of her disability; and to victimisation due to the situation with the assailant.

            A Law Centre could give free advice. Resigning from employment to claim Constructive Unfair DismissaL is a step which should only ever be taken cautiously.

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: Friend being mistreated at work

              Originally posted by SpringerSpaniel View Post
              There may well be arguments that she is being subject to Constructive Unfair Dismissal; to discrimination on the grounds of her disability; and to victimisation due to the situation with the assailant.

              A Law Centre could give free advice. Resigning from employment to claim Constructive Unfair DismissaL is a step which should only ever be taken cautiously.
              All good points Springer.

              Constructive Dismissal is defo something for her to look at now.

              Given the horrific history and how badly the employer has handled this - even before we get onto the disciplinary letter (and the failure of the employer to follow disciplinary procedures correctly) - there is a strong case for constructive dismissal.

              Get hold of the employer's disciplinary and grievance procedures.

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: Friend being mistreated at work

                Thanks Springer. I did look up about constructive unfair dismissal. Basically says she would have to resign immediately otherwise she has no case. However, with this letter and with the situation she had before, I couldn't think of a stronger case.
                It does also depend on her will to see it through though. Of course I'd hate to see her lose her job, but I'd hate even more to see her treated like this, then lose it anyway..

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: Friend being mistreated at work

                  I'm not sure about her having to leave "immediately" Smasher, because constructive dismissal can be a gradual, a series of events or just one event.

                  Am I correct in this Springer?

                  I had some friends who recently won good compensation from the ET for constructive dismissal claims. They had endured months of abuse at work before leaving.

                  If your friend is sacked then there will also be an unfair dismissal claim to bring.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: Friend being mistreated at work

                    Originally posted by The Debt Star View Post
                    I'm not sure about her having to leave "immediately" Smasher, because constructive dismissal can be a gradual, a series of events or just one event.
                    Ok thanks I'll look this up a bit more. I just read that on a website today, can't remember which now..

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Re: Friend being mistreated at work

                      If claiming 'unfair dismissal' this means you are taking the point of view that your employer's conduct is so unreasonable that they are in breach of their contract of employment with you - either an explicit term of any written contract or the implicit term of mutual trust and confidence - and that you do not consider them to be bound by the contract any longer.

                      As they have broken the contract, it is no longer in force, you are not bound by it either, therefore to demonstrate this you do not work there any longer, so it is hard to continue to work in your job and to mkae this claim.

                      However the Tribunal would look at all the conduct involved and what was reasonable, eg it would be reasonable for your friend to continue in her role whilst seeking th relevant professional advice and then to sumbit her claim.

                      There may also be Health and Safety at work breaches in the situation where a rape victim was not protected from confrontation by her assailant. My personal view is that this in itself gives strong grounds for a claim of constructive unfair dismissal.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Re: Friend being mistreated at work

                        Originally posted by SpringerSpaniel View Post
                        There may also be Health and Safety at work breaches in the situation where a rape victim was not protected from confrontation by her assailant. My personal view is that this in itself gives strong grounds for a claim of constructive unfair dismissal.
                        I totally agree.
                        However, for her, she just wanted the whole thing to go away. I think she understands now that she should have taken it further then and really needs to take it further now, but she's only human. I can't really imagine how she would have been thinking or feeling at that time, or even now for that matter.

                        I gave her the number for ACAS helpline (amethyst actually gave me this a while ago), so she's calling them now. I'll talk to her later. Also got her the number for the local law centre, so we'll see what ACAS say, then give maybe them a call aswell..

                        Thanks for all the replies
                        ------------------------------- merged -------------------------------
                        Just found this on wiki.
                        Constructive dismissal - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

                        The employee may resign over a single serious incident or over a pattern of incidents. Generally, the employee must have resigned soon after the incident.
                        Last edited by Smasher; 17th August 2011, 16:48:PM. Reason: Automerged Doublepost

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Re: Friend being mistreated at work

                          I just spoke to her, she called acas.
                          She has a meeting with the general manager tomorrow, acas said to let them know the outcome & take it from there.
                          Her supervisor is going with her on his day off to support her. I told her to take a photocopy of the letter and leave the original at home.
                          I pointed out to her that, at this meeting it should be their job to prove to her what they are accusing her of and they who need to explain their actions to her rather than her having to go in there and defend herself.

                          Personally I would suggest she go there and ask them to show her proof of what they are accusing her of, or she resigns and leaves without further discussion. Since one of the things they are accusing her of a criminal offence, they should already have sufficient proof to even make such a serious accusation. But again, I wouldn't want to encourage her to push any more than she is comfortable with if that makes sense..

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Re: Friend being mistreated at work

                            I can't help with this, but I need to offer some support and encouragement. This good lady will probably be low on confidence, bearing in mind her learning difficulties. Those who instigated this probably considered themselves as pretty 'smart' in contrast.

                            Putting it in writing was probably what they thought would scare this lady into running away. They underestimated her, didn't they ? Difficulty with learning may make someone appear timid or even a bit 'thick.' However, it doesn't mean they lack guts - and this gutsy lady has stood her ground, bless her.

                            Putting it in writing was the WORST thing to do. IDIOTS.

                            This lady's sincerity will see her through this, of that I am sure. The truth will out - and the writing is already on the wall....

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Re: Friend being mistreated at work

                              Whoever devised that cunning plan should be summarily sacked.

                              Comment

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