Would you do this or is it morally a shit thing to do?

If the lawyer didn’t dangle the financial carrot, would you feel differently ?

We don’t know what the conversation was with HR. We don’t know if she named names, gave details etc.

(I’ve had anonymous employee surveys where people have disclosed sexual harassment and believe me, it frustrates me when I know something and can’t do anything about it.)

"Morals guv'nor? Can't afford 'em!"
Alfred P Doolittle

Go for it!

Any HR professional worth their salt will have already documented the discussion when the OP told them. If the OP's allegations are very serious HR can't just magically unhear what she said, they would advise to investigate the allegations. I'm not saying it would be easy but to do nothing would be really risky in some situations
Imagine that an employee talks to HR about sexual harassment or overt discrimination and then just leaves so they don't do anything. 3 months later another employee reports the same thing and then highlights that Gladys reported the same issue previously and the company has failed to protect them.

I don't think for a minute they should offer settlement
The point with the performance issue was made to illustrate that some companies will settle when they really don't need to just because its easier, there was no reason to settle in my example, capability is a fair reason for dismissal

You don't get a payout for having a bad co worker... unless the company ignore and discrimination against you.

It seems the company have been positive, they have encouraged you to formalise the complaint. A payout might occur if thr company are looking to downsize and use this to offer a settlement.

What sort of lawyer is this?!?!?

Where on earth do you work where they'd just give you £25k for making a formal complaint about some stuff someone says??

I'm not sure your lawyer is being realistic here.

People raise formal complaints all the time. If you haven't raised the complaint then do it. But HR then have to investigate, this person will then give their side of the story and HR will have to try and resolve it. A payout of that sort of money would only happen as a last resort if no other resolution was possible. If you you haven't even raised a formal complaint yet then there's no point complaining if you haven't even sought a solution.

If you don't enjoy working there then take a job elsewhere. On your exit interview make it clear why you are leaving.

Just realised this . She can still raise one , maybe .

There is no grievance.

If you feel it won’t stress you out too much then please do the formal complaint. Bullies don’t stop bullying, they just move onto the next victim. It would be very useful for whoever he picks on next if his treatment of you is formally recorded now. Don’t feel you have to if it would be difficult for you, you are not responsible for his future behaviour, but if you feel able it could honestly be really helpful to someone.

Depends on where she works . My company would offer a settlement and many others too in this sort of situation . Obviously it will depend on documentation , grievances raised etc .

I disagree with 2 counts on this post.

in your performance example, there was a formal, documented issue which would make a protected conversation and settlement a viable solution. There isn’t in the OP’s case.

as for the issue being investigated, no grievance has been raised, so it’s not clear who the witnesses are or what os actually alleged. So what exactly would be investigated and how?

Some businesses will settle, some won't. I had an employee on performance management, the process had got to the point they were about to be dismissed and the company decided to settle. The reason? As it was potential dismissal the meeting escalated to a senior manager and he was 'too busy' 🤨
If it was very high risk, HR would be starting an investigation whether you raised a formal grievance or not. Youve already raised allegations. As a pp said HR are there to protect the company and that usually means protecting employees from being unfairly treated, not as is often stated, defending the company and sweeping poor practices under the carpet.
Raise the complaint, it's the right thing to do

It is not likely that you would get a settlement based on what you have posted here. You have raised it with HR, they have taken it seriously and told you what you can do if you want to pursue it. Your employer hasn’t done anything wrong at this point, so there would be no reason for them to settle.

If you have a new job that you would like to go to, then do so. If you would like to make a formal complaint about this guy, then do so. But both decisions need to be made without the expectation of any settlement.

If it were me I’d probably take the new job, I wouldn’t bother with a formal complaint about this guy but I might mention in an exit interview that that was why I was leaving.

Would also suggest that if you need further legal advice, you get a better lawyer than the one you have spoken to so far, who has raised your hopes of a settlement when there are no grounds whatsoever.

I’d send the complaint. He doesn’t deserve your empathy

@Juaal I don't understand why you even want to consider his feelings

At first I thought you were going to say you expect him to be sacked because he's not good at his job - and that would enable you to stay?

Sorry to say it, but are you sure he hasn't been asked to push you out? I'm not sure how high up you are, but I have seen this tactic before.

I agree that you could probably get a good settlement out of this.

Make the complaint, he could move on to making someone else’s life miserable when you leave. He deserves to pay for his behaviour, nobody should be bullied at work, or anywhere tbf.

Why should you be the one to move on? He's the one who created the problem.

Absolutely put in a complaint. What if he does it to someone else? Let him receive the consequences for his actions.

Go for it. He's responsible for his actions, maybe putting him through thus will stop him doing it to someonexelse. Fingers crossed for a good payout.

This!

He's a nasty bully regardless of any personal problems he may have. Pursuing a high level completely against him will hopefully make him think twice about bullying people in the future.

I didn’t really understand your polling options so I clicked YABU. What I mean is YABU to not put the complaint in. He’s being an arsehole and he deserves to be pulled up on it.

well that lawyer is talking rubbish no company would rush to offer x amount

Add a paragraph into your grievance:

*You understand being the subject of a complaint is stressful
*You are aware in general terms of him experiencing difficulties in his personal life
*Notwithstanding his difficulties, his behaviour cannot be tolerated and could affect others so you consider it unfortunately necessary to pursue the complaint.
*You expect HR to deal with your grievance professionally, including providing him with suitable support to avoid harm coming to him (it being known that in some fields that being complained about is a suicide risk).

I’d bet a considerable amount that the OP won’t be getting any payout.