Bullied at work - do I have a legal case?

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Rois

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About 4 years ago I started work for a large local organisation. After a short period of time, I was systematically bullied by the manager for about 16 months. At that stage, I went to HR and asked to be moved to a different section of the organisation. To cut a long story short, I was offered a move to a department 30 miles away. As a result of the bullying, I was on heavy medication and quite ill and I couldn't face driving such a distance. Therefore, I was forced to resign or be sacked. I resigned - that was about 2 years ago.

My health (mental and physical) continued to deteriorate and it was another year before I was able to start work again. I have now found out that the manager concerned is on paid leave as a result of a similar allegation from a member of staff.

I wonder if I could now take legal action against the company for the bullying at this stage and given that the organisation involved ? Or should I just let bygones be gone and be grateful that I am in a better place now.
 
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Re: Bullied at work - do I have a case?

Rois said:
About 4 years ago I started work for a large local organisation. After a short period of time, I was systematically bullied by the manager for about 16 months. At that stage, I went to HR and asked to be moved to a different section of the organisation. To cut a long story short, I was offered a move to a department 30 miles away. As a result of the bullying, I was on heavy medication and quite ill and I couldn't face driving such a distance. Therefore, I was forced to resign or be sacked. I resigned - that was about 2 years ago.

My health (mental and physical) continued to deteriorate and it was another year before I was able to start work again. I have now found out that the manager concerned is on paid leave as a result of a similar allegation from a member of staff.

I wonder if I could now take legal action against the company for the bullying at this stage and given that the organisation involved ? Or should I just let bygones be gone and be grateful that I am in a better place now.
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My simple reading of this ..... if you didn't make reference to the bullying when you were there with the HR manager etc. you could find it quite difficult to prove your case .... depends on who you told ... and what the reasons (official) reasons for your resignation were.

Were you to win your case you might get a few thousand euro .... is it worth it revisting the whole issue? or should you just move on and focus on the future?

I don't know ....only you know the answer to that.
 
Re: Bullied at work - do I have a case?

PaddyBloggit said:
My simple reading of this ..... if you didn't make reference to the bullying when you were there with the HR manager etc. you could find it quite difficult to prove your case .... depends on who you told ... and what the reasons (official) reasons for your resignation were.

Were you to win your case you might get a few thousand euro .... is it worth it revisting the whole issue? or should you just move on and focus on the future?

I don't know ....only you know the answer to that.
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Thanks for reply. To clarify a bit more, when I first went to HR and told them I was very unhappy all I said was that I felt I was being discriminated against. They asked me to name the person, I said I didn't want to do this, so the HR manager said the persons name to me and I confirmed it was him. She said it wasn't the first time these allegations had been made. But I said I didn't want to take it any further and just requested a transfer to another section, which I got but only for 6 weeks, when I was told I had to move to another branch 30 miles away. When I said I couldn't do this, on medical grounds, I was sent for a medical and the GP confirmed that I wasn't up to travelling at that point in time.

I then had to attend a disciplinary for refusing to travel (as it was part of my contract that I had to travel to any branch office as requested). I had the support of the Union at the disciplinary and the letters from the company GP and my own GP. However, after the disciplinary, I received a letter saying I could keep my job on condition that I transferred. The organisation and Union were fully aware of the bullying situation at this stage. They were also aware that I had suffered a nervous breakdown as a result of the bullying.

I resigned on the basis that I couldn't travel and was therefore in breach of my contract. I don't believe HR wanted to deal with my allegations of bullying at the time and wanted to protect the manager concerned. However, now that the manager is on paid leave for the same allegations against another member of staff, maybe they would listen to my case with more respect.

Of course, I am not sure that I want to re-open the whole issue, but my health was seriously affected as a result, and I suffered a big loss of earnings for a year. Thankfully, I am stronger now and my question is whether to look for redress legally. I know this is a decision that I have to make myself, but I am just looking for advice - I am not interested in financial gain/compensation per se, rather for recognition of what I was put through and the totally dismissive way in which I was treated by the organisation.
 
Re: Bullied at work - do I have a case?

In relation to schools we have what's called an 'Anti-Bullying Policy' in relation to workers within the school (as distinct from the Anti-Bullying Policy dealing with pupils). It states exactly what steps need to be taken in respect of a complaint.

Was such a policy in place?

Just a further thought ..... if the HR Manager asked you about pursuing it at the time and you said you didn't want to, the company can argue that they dealt with it at the time and that the matter had been closed because you didn't want to pursue a complaint. Would your conversation with the HR Manager have been recorded?
 
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Re: Bullied at work - do I have a case?

Yes Paddy they did have an anti-bullying (or similar) policy but I don't have any details of this, nor did I ask to pursue it at the time. I was happy just to move to another section. However, HR called the manager in question to a meeting after my request and asked him if there was a culture of bullying in my section. He denied this. But following that meeting he called me into his office, left the door open and within earshot of everyone else in the section went mad with me for going to HR behind his back.
 
Re: Bullied at work - do I have a case?

PaddyBloggit said:
Just a further thought ..... if the HR Manager asked you about pursuing it at the time and you said you didn't want to, the company can argue that they dealt with it at the time and that the matter had been closed because you didn't want to pursue a complaint. Would your conversation with the HR Manager have been recorded?
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No my initial conversation with HR was not recorded - it was an informal chat. I didn't want to pursue the issue as I still had to work with that manager and they told me that it could take weeks or months before I could be moved to another section - if at all. I was also just on a temporary contract and fearful of losing my job at the time. Looking back now I should have taken a different approach, but I was not thinking straight at the time as was in the middle of a nervous breakdown and practically suicidal. However, in later meetings with HR prior to and during the disciplinary, they were made fully aware of the situation.
 
Re: Bullied at work - do I have a case?

Looking at the times of your 2 posts above ,it looks like you are not sleeping properly.....maybe over all of this. I think you should move on and don't let this episode, waste another minute of your life. I hope you have found a better place to work. Best Wishes.
 
Re: Bullied at work - do I have a case?

Thanks Susanna. I am frequently up late or very early, but that's due to the fact that I now have 5 part-time jobs, some of which involve shift work as well as working from home on my own internet business where I have to deal with contacts in China and the time difference etc. I am not losing sleep over this matter now (though I did at the time). I am inclined to agree with you that I should just forget about the whole episode, which, to be honest, I had done until I read in the paper that the manager was suspended for the same thing again .. and of course that brought it all back to me, and maybe there's a desire for revenge or some kind of acknowledgment from the organisation for the poor way, I believe, they dealt with my complaint at the time.

I will give it some more thought before I decide either way and thank you again.
 
Rois, to my knowledge an ex employee has 6 months to instigate a case against a former employer. If the 6 month period expires so too does your case.
 
Re: Bullied at work - do I have a case?

Rois said:
May I ask why this has been moved to a different thread when what I really want is legal advice and not career advice?
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Read the subtitle for the forum Askaboutlaw:

For legal issues not covered in another forum. Ask about conveyancing in Mortgages forum. Ask about road traffic law in Cars & Motoring. Ask about tenant issues in Property Investment.
 
Re: Bullied at work - do I have a case?

Rois said:
I now have 5 part-time jobs, some of which involve shift work as well as working from home on my own internet business where I have to deal with contacts in China and the time difference etc.
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Are these hours being tracked under the Organisation of Working Time Act?
 
They are all part-time jobs, I doubt that I am in breach of any legislation with regard to hours worked.
 
europhile said:
I think it's the employers who would be liable.
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But if they are all different part-time jobs surely it's the worker who should keep track of her own hours as the part-time job employers only know what hours she's getting through their part-time job.
 
europhile said:
I'm not entirely sure how it works. If aybody knows I'd be interested to know.
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AFAIK the employer is required to make sure that an employee is not in breach of the act, even if the breach is caused by having two or more jobs. That said it is a stupid law and should be ignored by anyone who wants to run their own life. It also doesn't apply to self employed people so if Rois puts up most of his/her hours on their internet business then there is no breach.

Anyway, Rois has more pressing things to worry about at the moment.
 
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