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Complaint made but no follow up 1 year on

16 replies

gooddayinmymind · 22/01/2021 15:12

I work for a company who is contracted to a big global company as a supplier - my main role is customer facing and I have many great relationships with my customers.

One day last year, one of the customers visited the office I work at to drop in paperwork and also brought along some cakes for the team.

He has always come across a bit weird and has often made inappropriate comments about me, unfortunately I've always brushed these a side and been professional.

On this particular day, I was wearing a black smock dress with a belt round the waist and the sleeve on my dress were puffed. I was sat at my desk and the customer had wandered over into our seating area for a general chit chat, as he got closer to the desks, I had to get up to retrieve something out a cupboard. He said to me 'what's wrong with your dress?!' And I said 'nothing why?!' Anyway that was that, and he was talking to the other ladies in the office.

He then walked over to my desk, put his hand on my hand and picked me up from my desk almost as if you would if you were asking someone to dance with you (only way I can think how you'd describe it!) I sort of froze and didn't really know what to do. Baring in mind this was in front of the rest of team (5 of us). He then spun my around placed his hands on my waist, tightened my belt and pulled my dress down. He said 'you look absolutely fantastic' I just went and sat back down and didn't really say anything, at this point a manager who I work with was at the entrance to our office and witnessed it and mouthed 'are you ok' to me from the other side of the room. After this he left and I asked the team whether they though that was appropriate and was I overreacting to feel so grossed out by the situation?! All the team agreed it was inappropriate and beyond strange.

About half an hour after he left, he text my work phone saying 'thank you for standing for me, your dress is very enticing and a true beauty in it too, said far too much, many thanks as always' I didn't respond but was majorly creeped out.

I decided to report the issue to my line manager, who then escalated to our HR team. The HR team then got in touch with our customers company HR team, to which my complaint was filed.

I completed a statement of events and also provided a screenshot of the text he had sent me. About two weeks after this, I had an interview with the HR case manager and an independent manager from the customers company. They said they would be in touch once the investigation was complete.

This was about 2-3 weeks before the first lock down and I have been WFH since then til August and I am now on mat leave. I have not heard a single thing about my complaint and feel like because I've been WFH and on mat leave it's been brushed under the carpet.

I re-read my witness statement again today and my blood still boils at how he made me feel. I have a call scheduled with my line manager next week and will bring it up to discuss why nothing has been done.

Am I overreacting for feeling let down by HR for not being pro active in chasing this up to protect their members of staff? Should I just let it slide?

OP posts:
BornIn78 · 22/01/2021 15:16

I would not let this slide, and in fact I'd raise it via email before your call with your line manager next week, and ask for a response in writing, so that you have proof of exactly what steps have (or as I suspect, haven't) been taken to resolve your complaint.

gooddayinmymind · 22/01/2021 15:30

@BornIn78

I would not let this slide, and in fact I'd raise it via email before your call with your line manager next week, and ask for a response in writing, so that you have proof of exactly what steps have (or as I suspect, haven't) been taken to resolve your complaint.
Good suggestion - thanks for your replySmile
OP posts:
WTAFIhavelosttheferret · 22/01/2021 15:56

What did you expect to happen?

It was a customer employed by another company. I would not expect any details of any action taken by that company to be shared with your company or with you?

DigitalChristmas · 22/01/2021 15:57

@WTAFIhavelosttheferret

What did you expect to happen?

It was a customer employed by another company. I would not expect any details of any action taken by that company to be shared with your company or with you?

The second paragraph. There will be a limit to what can be discussed with you
Aprilx · 22/01/2021 18:00

You don’t know that nothing has been done. I can understand why you would want to know that something has happened, but that would be a breach of his privacy and you are not entitled to be kept informed of what happened.

BornIn78 · 22/01/2021 18:08

They said they would be in touch once the investigation was complete

Did you all miss this in the OP?

BornIn78 · 22/01/2021 18:13

OP you are perfectly entitled, after putting in a complaint, to hear from the company you work for about what they are going to put in place (if anything) to prevent this happening again.

WTAFIhavelosttheferret · 22/01/2021 18:20

@BornIn78

They said they would be in touch once the investigation was complete

Did you all miss this in the OP?

They can't say that. Her company can report on their procedures to prevent this but she can't be updated on anything to do with him by the other company.
Aprilx · 22/01/2021 18:41

@BornIn78

They said they would be in touch once the investigation was complete

Did you all miss this in the OP?

It is irrelevant what OP said, they were misinformed of the next steps. The other person has a right to privacy and details of the outcome may not be shared with OP.
gooddayinmymind · 22/01/2021 18:43

I still have to deal with this man unfortunately so you can understand why I would like some resolution to it. They did inform me I would be contacted once investigating was finished but maybe you are all right about breach of privacy.

I'd of though my HR would have at least said case close sort of thing but no mention again of it.

OP posts:
Aprilx · 22/01/2021 19:10

@gooddayinmymind

I still have to deal with this man unfortunately so you can understand why I would like some resolution to it. They did inform me I would be contacted once investigating was finished but maybe you are all right about breach of privacy.

I'd of though my HR would have at least said case close sort of thing but no mention again of it.

I think it would be reasonable to say something along the lines of “I don’t want to know the details but was this ever dealt with as far as you know”.

If there has been no further inappropriate behaviour, then that might indicate it was dealt with?

gooddayinmymind · 22/01/2021 20:02

Thanks @Aprilx that's a good idea.Smile

OP posts:
daisychain01 · 22/01/2021 20:25

OP, please expect better for yourself!

It needs to be more than "was this ever dealt with"?

You were touched inappropriately and had your personal space invaded by a man (who was, by the way, abusing his power as your customer) in plain view of other members of your team. How dare he, what an vile idiot. It is 2021, not the 1950s, when men could do what they liked to women, touch them any way they fancied and never need to answer to their foul deeds.

Notwithstanding COVID-19, you should have had as a minimum a direct confidential apology from this man, even if by work email or letter, forced by his employer, and with the knowledge of your employer. You are their employee and this act happened on their premises during work time.

The fact you have received no resolution to your complaint after a year, should not take the sting out of it one bit - he could be rubbing his hands in glee that his bit of fun has no consequences.

I'd be direct and assertive about it: "I'm disappointed that, even a year since my formal complaint, there has been no redress to the circumstances inflicted on me by Mr Idiot, who acted inappropriately, leaving me humiliated and violated. I would like to receive an update on the outcome of my complaint, to enable me to gain resolution from a situation that was witnessed by my 5 team members, who were as shocked as me that day".

Leave the ball in their court. Not taking it to a conclusion means they're all off the hook not dealing with it appropriately, not least Mr Idiot, who could do the same to someone else.

MrsRockAndRoll · 22/01/2021 21:26

Agree with @daisychain01

I would also expect my employer & his to agree a new way or working when I no longer had to deal with him suck as an alternate contact

Aprilx · 23/01/2021 08:33

Well I don’t agree that the HR department of another organisation would share details of a disciplinary process for one of their employees. This was not a police investigation, if OP wants that level of outcome then she needed to report to police not HR.

daisychain01 · 23/01/2021 20:39

@Aprilx

Well I don’t agree that the HR department of another organisation would share details of a disciplinary process for one of their employees. This was not a police investigation, if OP wants that level of outcome then she needed to report to police not HR.
That's not what is being recommended (well, not by me anyway).

To some extent it's irrelevant what action his employer took to discipline their employee.

The key thing was that the OP was wronged, and put in a formal complaint against what he did. The pragmatic action to take would be for the OP to receive an apology.

The fact she has not heard anything for this past year is shabby. It minimises what happened. The OPs employer should have followed things through and don't appear to have done anything so they're just as bad.

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