Work Grievance

[Pookster]

Hi, I would like some advice please!

I work in a primary schooll as a teaching assistant, on the second day back after the summer holidays, I found a note in my pigeon, it wasn’t in an envelope or marked private & confidential. The note was very nasty, saying I was unprofessional, had no communication skills and was a gossip amongst other things. It had been typed at the top of a document I had been asked to produce which was a log of incidents and issues I’d had witha teacher, I’d been asked to log it purely in case more incidents occurred going forward. It wasn’t meant for circulation and was typed just from my perspective.

the added note was anonymous, so I wasn’t able to address the issue.

the note had been typed in April and at the end of the year I had drawn a line under the include as wouldn’t be working with the person I’d had issues with this year:

whoever edited to add the note hardest it in my pigeon hole 5 months after I had produced it.

i was asked to produce it by a member of SLT who was my appraiser at the time. I know that she had sent it to the head teacher and he had mentioned this document existed to two other members of SLT - I’m not sure why.

I had mentioned one of the SlT he had told in there and how she had told me confidential information about a staff member in the past.

i raised a formal complaint and then a grievance which is ongoing at present. Initially HR had been disgusted by the note and very supporting. I would like to know who typed it so we can resolve this - I have always had positive appraisals and nobody has ever said negative things about me before so I’m shocked. It’s all I can think about.

i had an email from HR today which had a paragraph in there as follows:

“We will keep you informed as the process progresses and provide you with confirmation of the outcome, within the limits of what can be shared in line with confidentiality requirements.”

sounds like they are going to use confidentiality not to tell me who it is. I only have a grievance with the nasty note written about me, I haven’t accused anyone as it’s anonymous so I don’t know who it is, I have my suspensions. So how can they use confidentiality in this instance?
it’s affecting me mentally as don’t know who I can trust

they sound like they are protecting the perpetrator and not the victim so what is the point of a grievance??

[PallasAthena]

You are reading too much into the HR words. It's a standard form of words that flags that the Data Protection Act applies to their findings (as well as the school's own policies) which may prevent them disclosing information about other people.

[Pookster]

The school didn’t protect my confidentiality when my confidential document was edited and printed without whoever wrote it needing to view it and dint have consent to edit and print

[PallasAthena]

Are you saying it was the school that edited your document to say you were "unprofessional, had no communication skills and was a gossip" and posted it in your pigeonhole?

That isn't the impression your earlier post gave. I understood it was an anonymous unknown person, acting without the knowledge or approval of the school, and the school are attempting to find out who it was. That could result in disciplinary action against the person if they can be identified.

[Pookster]

Yes it was somebody at my school who edited Tommy document and said I was unprofessional, a gossip and basically lying, the note was anonymous and it had been in my pigeon loose, without any envelope

[Pookster]

No sorry I didn’t explain properly. My document was a log of issues uf suffers with a colleague. It was meant to kept just in case anything happened again with this person. I had typed and sent to SLT in April and had a few she start in September. Then more was left for me in 2nd September wi a long gap between both so whoever accessed had no right or need to. I think must be SLT as only 4 of them i believe knew if its existence