victimisation

[putthekettle0n]

I raised a grievance at work for maternity discrimination, and since then the other collegues/friends in the company have obviously been asked not to talk to me at all, one particular colleague who I’ve been very good friends with personally and professionally pretends to start busying herself in her phone if i pass her by. (i should mention the complaints were not made against any of my colleagues, they were made against management only, colleagues not implicated in anyway).

I work in a separate office and occasionally someone needs to enter it to get something, however I’ve noticed they will always come in pairs. and the colleague/friend in particular is always shadowed by someone else, incase they are worried we might talk. It’s become such a lonely place to work, and i know the term for this is victimisation for having raised a grievance. I’ve asked my manager why everyone is avoiding me and he’s denied it obviously and said its in my head.

my question is how can i evidence this behaviour? obviously i can’t start secretly recording whose coming in and out of the office. But i would like some sort of proof of my treatment before i leave for maternity soon.

I don't see any possible way of proving what you claim. Even if you could prove that people have started acting differently around you, and I don't see how you do that, you couldn't possibly prove that management have asked them to not speak to you unless one of them tells you that they have been told to do this. And they may not have been.

If this is happening, it may be that your colleagues are simply distancing themselves from getting involved in a grievance. Unfortunately that is not uncommon - people simply don't want to get involved, or be seen to be supporting others who they may think will drag them into a situation they don't want to be part of.

You will drive yourself mad trying to prove this. My best advice is to focus on your upcoming maternity leave and your new baby, and leave them to it. If you are right and they are doing this, you won't prove it; but equally they aren't worth anything as friends or colleagues anyway, if they are willing to act like this.