Please help me with unfair disciplinary action

[Nezuko22]

Hi,

I have an appeal meeting on Monday against a disciplinary that was given to me last week. I have written dow a rebuttal because I'm quite an emotional person and I will be less likely to cry if I'm reading it off of a bit of paper.

The gross misconduct I've been accused of is false, and they have jumped straight to final written warning despite this being my first "offence".

The disciplinary was also sprung on me, there was no warning, no invite detailing the nature of the meeting, no chance to prepare my defence and no chance to bring a representative. I have been on the ACAS website and this appears to be unlawful. I also note that the appeals meeting is being conducted by the same manager who conducted the disciplinary. I was not offered the chance to appeal, I had to ask for it.

How would you play this? I truly believe this to be a personal vendetta agaisnt me and they are looking for a way to force me out of the company. I am going ot leave, but I am not going to tell them this until I have a job offer in my hand from somewhere else.

The emotional distress this has caused me has been unreal. My anxiety has been so bad I have spent most of the week shaking as I have to sit directly next to the manager who did the disciplinary. I had not eaten in 3 days and am at risk of my hair falling out due to stress related alopecia.

I'm going to call ACAS on Monday morning before the appeal for some extra advice but was wondering if any of you lovely ladies had some words of advice.

@DisabledDemon are you serious? Present at A&E Department? They would quite rightly tell you to sod off back to your GP. Awful advice and a waste of NHS resources.

Correction: Re my previous question about libel/slander. I meant defamation. Particularly if the employer sends a defamatory reference to a potential employer.

No, you can't. A union may advise you but they won't represent you in an action that is already ongoing.

Not really, no! I've learned through ill-treatment in the workplace to look after no 1. It's the best strategy. Integrity is hugely important to me but after being shafted once, not again!

That's nonsense about "dignity" anyway!

big tips

remove all logs and saved passwords on your work PC, only use a phone for private communications. Your pc maybe accessed when your out of the office and any histories or web searches will be present or accessed via google histories for other devices. unlink google or any password manager. use your phone, but de-link the office wi-fi.

keep a written record of communications, emails - print them off, keep this at home or in your bag (that is your property) they cannot access this without your permission. Write a dairy for your day, recording interactions with staff, meetings etc.

keep communication civil, but limit it to work and no more. be professional

limit general chat to other staff, you do not know who is in the boss's pocket.

I've been there and it really has a toll on your mental health. I learnt the above the hard way.

Actually, I am. The day that I went off sick was the day I got an emergency appointment with my doctor. On my way there, I walked out in front of an approaching car and my thoughts were, 'If it misses me, so what? If it hits me, that's my problems over.'

When I told the doctor this, she told me to go to our local hospital immediately. She would be phoning them to let them know that I was on my way and I was to call her the instant that I got there. I objected. I didn't want to be sectioned, I said.

She said, 'This is to prevent you from getting sectioned. You need help and you need it now.'

So yes, I am being serious and no, I was not told to 'sod off' back to my GP. I was seen quickly and compassionately and a diagnosis was made. Or perhaps you feel that I should have topped myself and saved NHS resources?

I find lying undignified. We’ll have to agree to disagree.

@DisabledDemon of course they would see you if you were saying you were a danger to yourself. This isn’t what OP is describing here and a such your advice re. going to A&E doesn’t stand.

So how do you think this would benefit OP ? It would be seen for what it is, a delaying tactic. And if OP has been there less than two years she has very little in the way of rights. If they had wanted to sack her, they could have done so well before now with no repercussion. Going off sick might just push the decision in the other direction.

Hi @Nezuko22 , hope it went well today 💐

It sounds as if they have made their minds up already and the OP needs time to regroup.

You can be sacked if you have a persistent or long-term illness that might impact on your ability to do your job. However, before the OP's employers take any action, they have to ensure that they have followed the disciplinary process correctly and also offered support in doing her job 'properly' - for example, offering training.

Defamation doesn't have to be public, only conveyed to a third party.

There is nothing to indicate that OP's employer have libelled or slandered her to a third party, nor that they will do so.

A long term illness that impacts your ability to do your job would likely be classed as a disability under the Equality Act 2010, as long as it’s expected to last more than 12 months. In which case the OP would have protected rights as a disabled person under the Act, which would legally prevent the employer from dismissing her for any sickness absence accrued due to that disability. They would also have to provide reasonable adjustment to allow her to carry out her job on the same terms as non disabled employees. But the disability would have to have been disclosed for the employer to be aware of it, and to provide suitable adjustments. As things stand she obviously hasn’t declared any such disability. And even if she did disclose a disability it still wouldn’t protect her from dismissal if the misconduct wasn’t as a result of that disability.

They didn't back down on the gross misconduct and have infact made it easier for me to leave despite me being a "valuable and respectef member of the team".

Found out today that other members of staff who have commited actual gross misconduct have never had more than a small talking too. Funny how they're all male. I am sad, but I'm just going to keep my head down until I find somewhere else and then get the hell out of there. Thankyou for all your support, I really appreciate it.

It maybe worth getting some legal advice as it sounds as though you are being treated differently because of your sex which is discrimination. Also failure of a proper investigation etc is of concern.
Interesting that you haven't actually been sacked!!

I just cant be bothered with it to be honest. It's not going to get me anywhere with them. I think they haven't fired me because it makes them look bad. But they have made it pretty much impossible to work there now but saying that any further mistakes would mean instant dismissal for the entirety if my employment there. I can't work terrifed of ever making a mistake. My friend who is another manager who sat in on my appeal agrees that I have been treated awfully but everything is falling on deaf ears and he is also considering leaving because of it. This is all due to a personal issue between myself and a director which he is taking out on me.