Not sure how to move on from this

[HungerHunger]

Things are terrible at work, I’m off sick due to work-related stress after my manager sexually harassed me and I complained. The company closed rank and supported him. They instigated contrived disciplinary matters against me in response. I sent evidence disproving this via my union but I’m getting nowhere with work. I raised a complaint about how my original complaint was dealt with after union advice. To date, work haven’t investigated my concerns, just merely acting as if I am the one under investigation. It has been extremely stressful.

I have legal expenses cover via my home insurance. To make a claim I need to share with them the evidence so they can assess prospects of success. I have hundreds of documents and a very long timeline (spans 2 years). I’m finding it an unsurpassable mountain to sort out. I don’t even know where to start or how to make it easy to understand and not complicated and presentable. I’m not sure how to approach this.

Secondly I don’t feel I can work with that employer. But again feel paralysed in finding alternative work. Just really worried about being in a similar position in the future. Also worried about obtaining references as it’s a bad employer.

aibu by not sorting this out? I genuinely just feel stuck and I suppose can’t get my head straight. I think maybe I need a way to break it down into manageable pieces but not sure how.

Did they take you to disciplinary based on what you said in the investigation or what you had personally said to the manager when he did / said what he did? What is it that you’re being disciplined for? A workplace should not retaliate against a grievance raised in good faith and that can be unlawful. If that is the case and you leave, that can be seen as unfair dismissal

After I had complained about him, nothing happened in terms of him being investigated.

Instead he immediately he leveraged bogus accusations my way by meeting with others in secret over a period of months accusing me of bullying them, they all discussed their statements together in advance and agreed a story. I provided evidence disproving what is being claimed but that wasn’t considered in the investigation against me, for example contemporaneous emails not put to these people contradicting their claims, my witnesses were not approached etc. the investigation into me was conducted by my manager’s friend (they socialise outside of work) and wasn’t conducted in line with ACAS best practice.

Okay in this case if you have the fight in you, I would seek legal advice and see how you can best proceed. Is there a higher HR department you can contact and raise a grievance to?

I don't have any direct experience, but I'd have thought that the legal cover thing though your insurance (if they do work cases) will do the donkey work of making a case from the mountain of stuff you give them, if you can outline things to them - though you might feel you have to present them with a watertight case, maybe it'd be their role to do this for you.
Good luck, anyway. 👍

I would go and speak to a solicitor, many do 30 mins free consultation. If you have the evidence then no way would I be giving up.

Good Luck OP, I hope you can find the strength to see this through.

You do need to sort it out. But first have a few days of holiday and do something positive for you. After having such an awful time, you deserve a break.

then start looking for new jobs. Reach out to friends, update your CV and get ready to apply. Read the cover letter advice on askamanager.com.

then come back to the paperwork for the current job. Write out a timeline of when key events happened and a summary similar to your post. Send it to your house insurance lawyers and get their opinion.

Unfortunately sometimes regardless of who's fault it is, its your responsibility to fix it.

At some point youll have to work somewhere. Could your union rep assist? Could you go to Citezens advice?

I’m senior at work so the people involved are at the top of the hierarchy, so HR wouldn’t do anything differently to them.

the allegations against me are strange as well, like HR said it would be minor misconduct at best if true (which it’s not). Yet I’m being treated as if I’m being sacked. It’s clear they’re trying to get rid of me.

Thank you! You’re probably right but they only take claims on that are likely to succeed (51%+), so I guess i feel pressured to present it in a way they accept it.

Citizens advice in my area don’t answer the phone, I have tried them for months.

My union isn’t very helpful because they don’t like getting involved with legal claims. They have backed away now.

Thanks, I think I’m struggling with the timeline & evidence. Some dates I don’t remember exactly, and so much has happened that’s fairly egregious. I’m not sure how to break it down to be more manageable.

This will be hard advice to hear, but I would advise you to stop fighting.

Realistically, you clearly don’t want to work there again, they clearly don’t want you to work there again, and they sound like a shit company to work for if they accept harassment.

My advice would be to find out what settlement you would get if it went to tribunal and you were successful. And then speak to them about the fact you are on the cusp of getting lawyers involved but would be open to a settlement agreement instead.

If you have legal advice with your insurance (or can afford an hour with a lawyer) use it to get them to draft an email suggesting a settlement.

@Secretsquirels to be honest that would be my dream scenario. Given my salary, my losses are significant before any compensation is added on top. I’d be happy to agree a settlement that just covers my losses.

However my insurance company only covers legal fees for tribunals, so they’d need to be convinced of tribunal success before getting involved with settlement talks. I believe settlements can be agreed at any point after they agree to represent me though, so it’s just about getting my insurance to agree there’s a tribunal claim first. They just don’t offer cover for work grievances or settlement agreements only.

That makes sense @HungerHunger .

If you earn well, it might be better paying for an hour with a lawyer rather than sorting all of the documents.

You may already know this but a without prejudice conversation about settlement doesn’t stop you going ahead to tribunal, so you could try that first and then sort all the documents for the insurance cover if it’s not successful.

If they’re treating you like you’ve been sacked, but you’re actually off on sick leave, and the only thing which they think they have evidence of is relatively minor, it is highly likely that hr have been briefing them on settlement amounts for some time!

Also, are you aware that they have to pay your independent legal costs for a settlement agreement? So you would literally only need an hour or so for advice on process and amount before opening a conversation.

If your in a union. Why haven't they put in a grievance. They have access to an employment lawyers which you have free access. They need to do a better job representing you.

I agree. They have been weird about me accessing legal advice. Basically have said it would be better for me to go private, and that they see it as a resolution if I take a different job with same employer. I feel that I can’t return to that employer.

Thank you for all your advice, really helpful. I was on a decent income but I’m not currently being paid due to sickness so things are tight for me to seek legal help without insurance.

Your Union need to be doing more, you pay for them. They can assist with legal cover.

If your local Union reps are being unhelpful go above them, there are generally regional staff that cover wider areas, you should be able to look their names up online but if not call a main number and explain the situation.

To me ot seems like all are closing ranks including union staff.

Have you involved ACAS, OP? I think you have two options - start the mediation process with ACAS and look for a settlement to leave. If you’ve got lots of evidence, they will likely want to settle rather than go through the money (and possible public scrutiny) of a tribunal.

Have you spoken to any law firms yet OP?

I only ask because (when I did individual work, which I don’t anymore) I used to prepare all the paperwork for LEI claims for free, as that would ultimately secure funding for the claim. You might find someone who would help with that, either for free, or for the cost of an initial consultation and document review.

Don’t forget to keep an eye on your limitation date too - 3 months is no time at all and it passes very quickly.

ACAS will help you. I would recommend speaking to them before you do anything else. A settlement agreement would be the best way forward.