have kept some details deliberately vague but will try to give as much detail as I can. I work in the public sector dealing with members of the public, making decisions that affect their lives. We recently recruited and I chaired the recruitment panel. Due to legal issues affecting our department we were no longer able to recruit and withdrew the vacancy. I was tasked with communicating this decision to the unsuccessful applicants after they had interviewed, but was not able to offer any information as to why they were unsuccessful, despite them being told if they were unsuccessful that they would get feedback.
One of the candidates was very upset about this and emailed me several times asking for feedback. I explained I could no longer provide feedback but I couldn’t explain why. Upper management forbade me from providing any further context, e.g. that there was a legal issue affecting the vacancy. The candidate emailed me several times over the following days and I replied each time saying I was sorry but the decision was final.
They have now complained about me and I am being investigated. I am confident I have done nothing wrong but I am so anxious about the process. I’ve been told it could take up to 4 weeks. I’ve been invited to a formal interview next week and have asked a member of the union to come with me. I don’t know if it would look bad if I went off sick. I’m so anxious my brain keeps jumping to the worst conclusion. I just don’t know what to do.