[Luxe]

I have been bullied at work for over the past year and it's taken me most of this year to finally prove it to management. There is one main culprit who is a senior person on my team who is very manipulative, two-faced and has control/anger issues. She's even gone so far as to openly and loudly in front of others call another colleague an f'ing loser. She is also now starting to target another person on our team who does the same role as her. She's quite social so she's been winning friends and using that to high school gossip.

For the past year I've been trying to defend myself and abilities. Despite a glowing annual review in 2011, my 2012 was extremely awful. In my annual review my manager even acknowledged that part of the staff provided feedback was not true and to ignore it yet everything else was taken at face value. I failed to get a payrise as a result and now I feel work also somewhat doubt my abilities. Basically I feel like I've had two people over the course of a year do their best to trash my career and I'm devastated.

I have never given any attitude and tried to provide solutions where possible. I have always done as I was asked and to the best of my ability. In fact management said just before my holidays that they 'cannot afford to lose me'. I produce some of the most highly talked about/praised work in the company. I have been acting the best I can and as professionally as possible to have these people destroy my confidence, career and happiness. Basically these people did so much to undermine and disempower me that I could no longer fulfil my role and they even threatened to leave the company if I wasn't removed.

The outcome of finally having the bullying recognised is that I'm being removed off the dedicated client account and back into the main pool of staff who work across multiple clients constantly. Since there were multiple people actively working against me and even though the client loves me and my work, the business chose to remove me for 'protection' as it was the easiest solution.

On Monday I'm faced with returning to work with most of the company (130+ people) having been informed in my absence whilst on leave that I'm no longer working on this account. I feel great shame that these people might think that the fault is mine and I'll be going into work tomorrow so I can move my desk without people seeing me do it - I'll probably be in tears. Most people know how much I absolutely love this client and to most they identify this client as being 'mine' as I've worked on it since the beginning and have developed it to the great heights it is today.

There's going to be questions and I don't know what to say them?

I want to be truthful as possible, in the right way as possible.

I'm extremely angry and upset that these people got away with bullying and yet I feel I can't just go around saying so outright because I'll get into trouble, even thought I'd love too.

Should I just say 'a change is as good as a holiday' and leave it at that? What if they keep probing for more? Note: I'm a bad liar. My facial emotions might give part of it away.

I'd like to know from any lawyers or HR people what I can actually say without getting into trouble. The Ally McBeal in me would love to say 'I could no longer perform my role and was removed from the account for my protection' but would that land me in strife?

Even if I did say something as per above, surely I couldn't get into trouble for bullying myself because such a statement is fact.

So, so unfair. I've lost so much and I don't even feel like I can say something about it which is awful. Evil has won.



This post has been edited by Luxe: 11/08/2012, 02:13 PM

[Girlo]

Poor thing - sounds like a tough year.

I think one of the best things is that you can hold your head up. If you let rip the real reasons you will lose that moral advantage. I would just say that it was no longer possible to work within that team and you want to experience new clients.

As tempting as it might be, try not to stoop to your bully's level....

Best of luck and try not to tear up too much when you move desks.



Girlo.

[*Lib*]

If they probe further tell them. You don't have to name names......but I'd be spilling the beans......gently I hope that this is a new start and onto better things for you. No one deserves to feel like that at work.

[AvadaKedavra]

Tell the truth. That you were being bullied and rather than discipline the bullier they moved you. Shrug, walk away.

[Peevish]

OP I think there are bigger issues than worrying about what to tell your colleagues. You say you have been bullied, what has your workplace done to stop the bullying? From your post it seems that your employer's response has been to remove you from a client's account. This is not the action of a workplace which has addressed the bullying issue.

You are entitled to work in a safe, bully free environment. You need to talk to HR about this.

[Luxe]

I have talked to HR. They cannot tell me what will happen for 'privacy reasons'. I asked if there would be ramifications. HR could not say. I then asked if there is a process to which HR said yes.

So far I've seen the producer just get away with more. She had a catch up with her manager after I reported bullying and they both returned laughing and smiling.

The HR manager has gone on a bullying course and from the looks of it they have engaged an external consultant. There were several boxes of what potentially contained booklets outside their office which could be handed out at a later date.

This is the first time the company has had to deal with something to this level.

[siemp]

I don't understand why *you* were the one removed from the account.

It doesn't make sense and certainly does not fit with any bullying policies or proceedures I have read, and trust me I've read A LOT from all over the world.

[SplashingRainbow...]

An awful situation.

I think you can do two things:
1. Make the best of the situation and think of it as a fresh start to prove to the managers of the pooled staff how great your work is
2. Move on.

Sometimes it's in your best interests to just cut your losses and move on. Not fair, no. But best for you? Unfotunately sometimes it is.

I've done both. I wasted a lot of energy trying to make the system better, but it hasn't happened. I don't regret leaving. I've had no shortage of excellent opportunities since. I don't know what sector you work in so there may be some limitations for moving on but at least consider it.

If you're going to stay you're going to have to keep up the moral high ground. No need to lie, but the mor professional you can be the better.

Fwiw, sometimes as a manager I've been instructed to keep very serious situations completely under wraps. That may have been interpreted as not taking the situation seriously (like coming out of a meeting laughing). In one case it was to buy time for the legal advice to come through and the employee soon after had their employment terminated. Sometime when you're in the middle you can't win and it sucks. Things may not always be as they seem.

Hope you can fin a way through it


Take care.

[Luxe]

I don't understand why *you* were the one removed from the account.

Neither do I, my friends or family.

There was 1 main bully, another who made life difficult and was borderline a bully and 2 who sat back and said nothing or did things such as warn them I was nearby, so to stop chatting. Replacing all those 4 means half the team is replaced. Bare minimum they'd have to replace two.

[Ms.Nolte]

Switch companies and take your client with you!