Work made me take the blame when it wasn’t my fault

[madamovaries]

I have a job which involves significant public scrutiny. There was a screw up at work where a male colleague messed up - I did nothing wrong, as my employer has repeatedly stated - and for complicated reasons, I’ve been made to take the public flak for it. I asked the company repeatedly to make clear it wasn’t my error but they refused. My (nice) colleagues are shocked and don’t understand why this man has been protected at my expense.

It has had a big knock-on effect on my ability to do my job as everyone I deal with keeps raising it with me and some people are even refusing to work with me. Over something I didn’t even do! The bosses keep saying it will blow over but it hasn’t at all.

It has also affected my health. I got sick with the stress, then caught covid. I also had a miscarriage which I don’t know was related obviously but has broken my heart.

I don’t really want to leave the job right now as I’d need to be somewhere else a while to qualify for mat leave pay, but should I just cut my losses and go elsewhere (another employer has thankfully been trying to poach me). I guess that would help restore my confidence which is at absolute rock bottom.

Aibu to feel my employer has failed in its duty of care?

@Alonelonelylonersbadidea

If you are the one whose name is on the paper, then despite the fact that you should be able to trust the data, you should still check. I sign off on financial statements regularly. I have to check the data even though I completely trust the accountants. If it's wrong, that's on me.

If it's a published paper, I can understand how you are still taking the fall though it's painful.
I would speak to a lawyer to see your best course of action.
I'd also look beyond working in the industry you are in.

It's neither of these situations. It's not financial or a published paper, but am sorry I can't say much more! Realise this is not at all helpful.

I was basically the hired hand - I just happened to be free when the work came in. His team isn't trusted to do the last (small) part of the work. It could have landed with anyone in my team. My line manager actually looked over it all first, and said exactly what she wanted which is what I delivered. I know this all must sound nuts from outside, but this is standard practice for the work it is.

The difficulty is no one externally knows how little I was involved in this, that I had nothing to do with his mistake, and it's caused a huge fuss.

Just want to thank you all. Bosses keep saying it'll blow over, and are acting as though I'm making a mountain out of a molehill, so am grateful for your responses.

I had spoken to an employment lawyer when this started. I will call them again tomorrow

Thanks and good night. you're all brilliant and kind.

Best wishes with the lawyer.

I'll be vague asking about your level compared to him. Are you higher, lowe, equal?

Can your boss place you on something else either in his area or another area with a promotion and a pay rise? It's the very least he could do.

I was basically the hired hand - I just happened to be free when the work came in. His team isn't trusted to do the last (small) part of the work. It could have landed with anyone in my team. My line manager actually looked over it all first, and said exactly what she wanted which is what I delivered. I know this all must sound nuts from outside, but this is standard practice for the work it is.

This does indeed sound nuts! It might not have been your fault, but it does sound like your team/line manager is quite culpable, and I can see why they don't want to publicly blame the other team, as it would expose that your team routinely presents as its own work that you've only done a tiny bit for. As a pp said, that can't be as normal in your field as you say, or why would people be refusing to work with you - they'd all know that you only do this last small bit?

You need advise from an employment lawyer. Please speak to one OP. Your employer has a duty of care to you.

* Essentially, they don't trust his team to do this part of the job, so their work comes to us and we do the final, small bit. You're supposed to be able to trust that what you've received is accurate. *

I’m confused
You’re supposed to trust what you have received is accurate
But
Management don’t trust their team to do their job

So how can you trust what you’ve received

Surely if management are giving the work to your team because they don’t trust him - they are expecting you to check that the work IS accurate. Precisely why they’ve asked you to get involved?!

@implantreplace

* Essentially, they don't trust his team to do this part of the job, so their work comes to us and we do the final, small bit. You're supposed to be able to trust that what you've received is accurate. *

I’m confused
You’re supposed to trust what you have received is accurate
But
Management don’t trust their team to do their job

So how can you trust what you’ve received

Surely if management are giving the work to your team because they don’t trust him - they are expecting you to check that the work IS accurate. Precisely why they’ve asked you to get involved?!

No. She actually said they don't trust them to do this part of the job, not the whole task. She's also said in previous posts that she is specifically not given the source data to be able to check the accuracy of the work. That's not the OP's decision, that's the process decided by someone else.

I'm pleased for you OP that you're not taken this lying down.

The entire thing is odd to me

Wha really sticks out is that they have supposedly been stupid enough to explicitly state IN WRITING that the OP is NOT to blame abut they are making her take the blame nonetheless

She doesn’t need Legal support. That email is the open and shut case.

Very odd. The email sender….the email sender: not the sharpest tool in the box, that’s for sure

What a nightmare OP. I’m glad you’re going back to an employment lawyer: that’s the most sensible option giving how your company is shafting you. It’s absolutely outrageous.

Regarding your concerns about not kicking up a fuss for fear of being shut out of your small industry, I’d suggest that the current damage that has (unfairly) been done to your reputation would presumably spread around this small industry and affect your career anyway. Surely it’s better to fight the lies and maybe for a short while be known as a firebrand rather than have people think you are incompetent! Best of luck to you OP.

I would change jobs, especially if someone else wants you. And pursue things with the employment lawyer. Horrible situation.

@implantreplace

* Essentially, they don't trust his team to do this part of the job, so their work comes to us and we do the final, small bit. You're supposed to be able to trust that what you've received is accurate. *

I’m confused
You’re supposed to trust what you have received is accurate
But
Management don’t trust their team to do their job

So how can you trust what you’ve received

Surely if management are giving the work to your team because they don’t trust him - they are expecting you to check that the work IS accurate. Precisely why they’ve asked you to get involved?!

No. It’s just the final writeup which they’re not trusted to do. We’re not passing the work off as ours - we’re delivering the final presentation of it. That’s just the way it gets split, to do with what people’s strengths are.

It’s not colleagues (who would know this) refusing to work with me - it’s external people because they don’t realise how this works. It’s an odd practice, I’ll grant you that.

The job has never been to check their work. In fact, I suspect they’d have been insulted if I’d demanded all the data. Never going to be asked to do this again

What I find hard to get my head round is why it's so strongly associated with you personally, rather than your team/employer, in the kind of set-up you describe? It must have had your name all over it for all these external people to think it was your work and to have such a strong impression of you from it?

And what sort of business, especially one very public, would externally NAME someone as being to blame.

Externally this looks appalling because looks like business blaming an employee when really there should be checks etc

And as the OP says internally “everyone k ows she’s not to blame”

It just doesn’t make sense

Someone must get final sign-off between the work being created by another team and presented by yours.

Who approves the work to be presented to clients? The fault lies with them.

Why are they so keen to make sure the bloke who caused the problem doesn't get the blame? And what if he doesn't learn from this and makes the same mistakes again?

Who the hell voted YABU on this one?

Seriously OP see your union rep for legal advice and fight on this one.

Escalate and fight this one.

I didn't vote YABU but I do think that OP (understandably) can't tell us enough to allow us to really understand the situation. For me it hinges on whether the work went out into the world plastered with her name in a high-profile way and the employer refused to specifically apportion blame elsewhere when the error came to light, or if her name wouldn't normally have been associated with the work in this way but they actively named her and said she was to blame after the error had been identified. I can't work out which happened.

Is this a good analogy?

Bob the baker made a birthday cake which was passed to the packing team. Patsy the packer put the cake in a presentation box and slapped on a sticker with the company's logo, which also said "packed by Patsy". Unfortunately Bob the baker didn't read the order properly, the cake should have been gluten-free but wasn't. The birthday child has coeliac disease and became ill after eating the cake. Their birthday was ruined. Patsy the packer is getting the blame, but she didn't know the cake should have been gluten-free, only the bakery dept know that. Other cake makers have heard what happened, and they don't know that internal processes didn't warn patsy that the cake was incorrect. On the outside it looks like Patsy just didn't check.

Doubt it tbh

@implantreplace

No, I wouldn't be okay if this was a woman but there is a 99% chance that it's a bloke that fucked up and a woman is being asked to suck up his mistake.

Would a bloke be asked to suck it up? No, I very much doubt it.

@PoshPyjamas

if they do not deal with the matter within the next five working days (ie by next Friday if you get the email to them tomorrow), you will be taking legal advice on how to take the matter further

If you are going to take legal action, then don't give them warning.

it's usual practice to give people 7 days to pay a bill or do whatever you want them to do before you go to lawyers/take things to the next stage of the process

My guess is something like you're the relationship manager/external point of contact? You're reliant on colleagues pulling together accurate work which you deliver?

@APineForestInWinter

Is this a good analogy?

Bob the baker made a birthday cake which was passed to the packing team. Patsy the packer put the cake in a presentation box and slapped on a sticker with the company's logo, which also said "packed by Patsy". Unfortunately Bob the baker didn't read the order properly, the cake should have been gluten-free but wasn't. The birthday child has coeliac disease and became ill after eating the cake. Their birthday was ruined. Patsy the packer is getting the blame, but she didn't know the cake should have been gluten-free, only the bakery dept know that. Other cake makers have heard what happened, and they don't know that internal processes didn't warn patsy that the cake was incorrect. On the outside it looks like Patsy just didn't check.

Actually, this is a very good analogy. You're a genius Should have come up with this myself

How did everything go @madamovaries?

Just bumping this as I'd be interested to know the outcome as well.