Accused of serious grievance, and then nothing?

[Accusedandclueless]

Wondering if anyone can give me some advice or the benefit of their experience.

A month ago I was invited to an informal meeting,and was told a complaint of racism had been made against me and another colleague within our team by a colleague. No details were forthcoming but I had excluded them and taken over their work area apparently.

And since then, nothing. Told to read the policy but it focuses on the timeline and process for those who make a grievance, not those on the other side.

Unsurprisingly this has been deeply upsetting and stressful. It was never raised there was an issue until this informal meeting, our manager either had no knowledge it was brewing or did nothing to solve it if they did

I know I am bound to say this, but the complaint has no basis in fact. I've racked my brains about what the details or evidence could be, because I can't imagine what I've done wrong and certainly how it could be interpreted as racist.

No meetings have been scheduled, still haven't seen the complaint. No idea how to defend myself when I do.

Bloody hell. I’d go to your manager or HR and tell them what you have said here.

I've been to both, no further information has been provided to me except an investigator has been found to take this forward. At the point of the informal meeting it was clear HR hadn't received the written complaint against me either

Have a word with your immediate supervisor maybe, and tell them how stressful this is and how it is making you feel, especially about being kept completely in the dark. It might be worth keeping a written record of this.

It’s often the case that the complainant gets all the focus, and the witnesses/supposed perpetrators are overlooked. It can have quite a significant impact when false allegations are raised.

However - they are obliged to follow a grievance process and to investigate the complaints - it’s a legal requirement. You will probably be interviewed as part of it, but it’ll likely be fact finding rather than any kind of formal disciplinary process. It doesn’t mean that the complaints have merit - it just means you have to wait and see if anything else is required of you!

I don’t think there is any harm in saying that you are worried about the complaint and to ask for next steps, though…

I'd email HR and ask for clarification because having this hanging over you and unresolved is awful.

So I've now seen the grievance and have a meeting booked in. There's nothing much in the complaint, except one instance of where they felt I excluded them from an email chain and this was apparently due to racism

I'm relieved in a way but also dumbfounded that this wasn't deal with informally by our manager.