Grievance At Work

[Philanthro]

Hi, wonder if anyone can give me any advice. Recently in my work place a member of staff accessed his email account whilst off work and under the influence of alcohol. He sent me a number of abusive emails which were quite upsetting to me, in a couple of them he copied other staff members into the emails.

Following this I registered a grievance and the matter is being investigated. The member of staff has told numerous other staff members that he is being investigated in a boastful way, and has printed the emails off and showed them to other staff members. I felt that as the situation had an impact on me that he should have been sensitive about who he discussed the situation with as the matter has become common knowledge in my workplace.

My question is where does confidentiality lie in an investigation where an individuals behaviour has impacted on others. Does he have the right to tell who he wishes or is he bound by confidentiality?

[dotty.]

you would need to look at your company's published policy on such matters and follow their guidelines, if it means taking the matter above the head of the person you have previously submitted your grievance to so be it.

[2sp_]

He sounds like a real charmer...

If he was nasty enough to send the emails in the first place, it would be too much to hope for a bit of sensitivity from him now.

Are you in a union? They may be a good source of support for you.

I hope you get a quick resolution to all of this, it's a horrible situation for you.

[cassa333]

Ask your manager/HR to stop him from doing this. At the very least it shows he thinks that sending this sort of think is ok and could help your case. He may have been drunk when he sent them but isn't now!!!

Is there a libel issue here as well?

[buildersmate]

Agree with Cassa 1st para; he should shut up whilst a grievance is investigated and he isn't doing himself any favours by making a lot of negative noise. The employee could consider suspecting him with pay whilst the grievance is investigated, if he's being a pain.

Don't go with a libel suggestion.

[Just-Jude]

Management are behaving like wimps! When you raised the grievance, he should have been suspended pending the outcome of an investigation. Having him back at work boasting about it is beyond belief. You really need to take this further and find out why this is being allowed to happen.

[buildersmate]

sorry - suspend, not suspect. Just-Jude and I are saying the same thing.

[AlwaysConfused]

this person should've been suspended whilst under investigation, in my view. It's your grievance, your business, you should not have to go through the stress of this being public knowledge. If you feel harassed by this, you need to pipe up to your boss

[lcg]

his behaviour in the office is further harassment. go back to your manager, express that you feel he is harassing you further by his behaviour and request that they do something about it. is he threatening you directly, or do you feel threatened indirectly? if you get no redress, go higher up the management chain (via a union rep if you have one) and make sure you make a note of every incident - time, date, place, behaviour, words, people involved etc. many people do not document problems properly and this can result in cases being dismissed/failing.....good luck x

[EDDIE51]

Excellent answers but if the guy is that much of an idiot then doing anything more is going to just give him more to boast about. I would maintain a dignified silence while the moron digs himself deeper into the poo.

[AlwaysConfused]

Eddie, I have to disagree. If you claim harassment later on, but show you have done nothing about it (ie tell senior members of staff) you don't have a leg to stand on. they will claim that they would've done something about it, had they have known.

[lcg]

remember to document and record everything in detail! the more detail....the more opportunity to hand him the spade.....

[Peter Pedant]

QUIG !

go out and buy a copy of SUnday Times of today 30 Dec 2012

business section - page 8 business doctor
'Act quickly to prevent bullying '

is four sqaure as the lawyers say with your case
and tells the employer what he should be donig about it

I really dont see why you shouldnt show a copy to your employer and say this is what you should be doing.......

I think also if you read the Harrassment act - you will see that photocopying the emails and distributing them is
"clearly a course of action designed to ......."
and say look he is breaking a statute/law at work - you MUST do sommehting about it....

and I wrie as someone accused at work of harassment

[I kicked down a door - well almost - and said to the surprised clerk inside - your case aganst employee X is crap you realise that dont you ?

and instead of saying - yes I know I give up ! or even No employee X is dead meat get out !

instead of that, she took option 3 (wh I hadnt identified ) and sat there waved her hands and screamed harassment harassment.

Didnt we have fun over that one ! ]

[boxtops]

Your bully has failed to realise that he's contravening whatever your policies are about use of work email - those emails belong to the company, they are not his personal property. If you don't have support at work e.g. a union, speak to ACAS quickly for some impartial advice, they are very helpful. http://www.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=2042

also here is some guidance from ACAS

http://www.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=3379