To go for the settlement or walk away?

[Greentesa]

I recently had a series of very uncomfortable interactions with a new male member of staff, in a position of seniority. I have been with the company a long time and it does very well. I raised my concerns with HR, they immediately said this looked on the face of it as unfair treatment and some very inappropriate comments and invited me to formalise it with a grievance. I have since taken legal advice and been told if I play it right I will be offered a settlement. I’ve been told to send the grievance in (already drafted) and to shorlty afterwards say rather than go through with the investigation which will take several months due to the complexity of the issues, ask them to pay me my notice plus a few months pay. I know this will be a bit of a battle but I am reluctant to walk away with nothing and absolutely cannot stay working there after what has happened. I feel if I do nothing I am letting someone do this to me and not even standing up for myself in any way. What would you do?

The options you have been given are basically to choose between a route that will give you more money but leave the senior staff member with no black mark on his record because nothing was proven against him, vs a route where you might get less money but by sticking with the process the investigation can't whitewash anything and if your allegations are believed, the senior person should get sacked for gross misconduct. If the senior person is talented at their job, your employers would rather you went for option (a) and may make that option very generous. If you pursue option (b) but then can't prove anything, you could end up with not much to show for the heartbreak but might feel you have more self-respect. Option (a) will probably entail a non-disclosure agreement such that you can't even warn future victims.