Employment Tribunal Issue - Bogle1972

[Bogle1972]

Hello All,

I am at my wits end and really need some advice, I work for the NHS and have done so for 5 years, During this time I have been subjected to Blatant Racial abuse, Bullying, False Allegations and a final warning. I approached all my senior Managers for help by sending them emails and none of them responded. My line manager would not escalate complaints that I made. So basically, in the last 5 years My employers have treated me any way they wanted too, as I had no one to go too, no one would listen to me. I finally decided that I was going to put in a Grievence, Which I did, and a little over a year, the investigtion is still ongoing !!!. I happen to know that one of the people that was interviewed actually admitted the rascism and yet nothing has been done.. STILL. I was copied into an email (by mistake) where HR blatantly admitted that the investigtion was a mess and notes and evidence has been lost. So.. I applied to an employment tribunal, which is round the corner, The other party have requested a prelininary Hearing to get my case thrown out. I have 5 years worth of eviden and emails that I tried my hardest to get the situation resolved, but no one even up to senior level wanted to know. My question is .. If my employment tribunal application is out of date (which it is, because the ill treatement carried on for the last 5 years) but I have evidence to prove that Senior management and HR ignored my requests for help, Would the fact that I was ignored be taken into consideration, as I have SO much evidence to prove my case. Would a Judge overlook the fact that the application was out of date as I have proof that my pleas for help was being ignored. What are my chances, After a long drawn out battle, this has near destroyed me, but the only thing keeping me going is the fact that I know I have enough evidence to finish them. Any advice?.. because Im back to not sleeping again and could really use someone's wisdom.. Thanks all x

[bluebottle]

Re: Employment Tribunal Games!!!

If you belong to a trade union, speak to their legal section to see if the ruling in the case of Majrowski -v- Guy's & St Thomas's NHS Trust [2005] applies. If your are "out of time" for an ET, you may be able to bring a case under the Protection from Harassment Act 1997. Also, your cases has some echoes of the Michalak case in respect of the racial aspects.

[Bogle1972]

Re: Employment Tribunal Games!!!

Thanks very much for the response, I et my union Rep go as I found out he was having meeting with HR about me behind my back to try and coerce me into having a quiet chat with them so they could talk me into not taking it further. I have all the evidence I believe I need to Finish them, but it all depends on the out of time ruling. Im really worried as I dont want them to get away with what they did to me. Lets just hope I get a Judge with some heart and a ittle compassion. I appreciate the response

[bluebottle]

Re: Employment Tribunal Games!!!

If your union rep has being doing what you say he has, have you made a complaint to the union's senior management? If the union rep knows what the NHS management are doing is unlawful or, even, illegal, it means that they are, potentially, a party to such wrongdoing and may even be dropping the union in the proverbial as well as themselves.

I am going to ask one of our Employment Law specialists to look in and give a more informed opinion as my background is in Criminal Law.

[Bogle1972]

Re: Employment Tribunal Games!!!

Thanks so much I appreciate it,

[teaboy2]

Re: Employment Tribunal Games!!!

Hi Bogle, Whatr makes you think your claim is out of time? Your claim is from the last cause of action not from the start. So the fact this has been going on 5 years is irrelevant at your last course of action would be from your employers last wrongful or failure to act prior to your issuing your claim. In your case its highly unlikely you are out of time as in act by the employer since making your claim would also count as last course of action and therefore the issue would still be on going rather than out of time.

[charitynjw]

Re: Employment Tribunal Games!!!

I 100% agree with teaboy.

If the cause of action is ongoing (which, btw, would include the employer's failure to get their act together), then it is a series of interlinked events, & the last of these (the 'last straw' event) will be the one which counts.

If you have submitted a grievance (a year ago) which is still not properly addressed after a year, that alone would be reason to go to ET.

But it is the discrimination part of your complaint which is of far more concern.
It would appear from your initial post that your line manager(s) is/are complicit in this discrimination; if that is so, your employer has a duty to ensure that your complaint is dealt with by an impartial person at a suitable level of authority.

I would usually refer someone to ACAS, as they would become involved anyway in an employment dispute which goes to ET.
In your case, I would also suggest that you contact EHRC (Equality & Human Rights Commission), as they have a good track record for dealing with discrimination cases.

If you need further assistance (Employment law, case law, etc), just give us a shout.

[Bogle1972]

Re: Employment Tribunal Games!!!

Thats such a relief, I sent emails asking for assistance up to Directorship level from 2009, but he only started having meetings with me in 2012!!!, My origional grievence was against my line manager and a couple of collegues, I also included emails as evidence and also 6 witness statements from other collegues, I also in my grievence talked about the racial insults from other collegues. Yet in my outcome meeting they stated that I left it too long to do anything about my manager and they had NO findings, dispite sstatements, email evidence and interviewing other people ( who I know also confirmed this was tru as they experianced it too). At the outcome meeting they cherry picked which issues they wanted to deal with and ignored the rest (even the rascism). My union rep at that time questioned why the people who had made the racial comments had not been suspended pending an investigation, they then said that they would deal with this in a separate investigation ( because clearly they had no intentions of dealing with it in the first investigatiion). The HR manager who took my statement over two days left the trust and took all of my statement that he recorded with him, and I never recieved a copy of it. I continually asked and they fobbed me off by telling me, it was in the post.. it was going to be done..etc. But yet in an emai that I was copied into by HR, the Hr manager stated that " The notes had been lost quite a while ago, and that they investigation had been a mess, and lets hope that the next investigation is dealt with properly". In total, this whole investigation process has been goin on for nearly over a year. with no real end in sight. I put this girvence in in Oct 2012 and am still awaiting a real and fair outcome. Because HR seems to be covering for management and not made them responsible for letting this happen in the first place. Its a very long winded case and STILL ongoing. I suppose, that after all this time of fighting for some justice, it kinda takes its toll and wears you down, but I will keep fighting !! I really was under the impression HR were there to protect you, I now realise they are there to protect the workplace and and their shady doings!

[wales01man]

Re: Employment Tribunal Games!!!

I cannot condone any abuse racial or other but have to ask what is the outcome you want if this is investigated waiting for 5 years to get to the stage you are at now seems a long time expect that lots of notes have gone missing its likely the only person on your side is you.
As for the union rep do you pay them to represent the management as said before complain about them to union management

[charitynjw]

Re: Employment Tribunal Games!!!

With reference to HR, who pays them?; nuff said!

If it were me, I would SAR the employer for all my data which they hold, with particular emphasis on the 'missing' stuff.

Could be the best tenner you've spent, because if they can't give good reason why the info is missing, they'll have to answer to the Information Commissioner's Office.

http://www.legalbeagles.info/forums/...ccess-Request)

[Bogle1972]

Re: Employment Tribunal Games!!!

Well yes 5 years is a long time !! and what do I want?.. I want someone to listen to me and acknowledge that these things DID happen, that my employer DID fail me, I want justice for all the years I suffered, and I want to be Compensated for the years of harrassment, and to just move on. I personally dont think thats too much to ask, and I think that my employer knows that should this go to court I WOULD win. Hence the prelimniary request to have it struck out without a judge or anyone else hearing my account of things and seeing my vast amount of evidence. Lets hope the fear factor kicks in and they just settle!

[teaboy2]

Re: Employment Tribunal Games!!!

Just stick to your guns and do not let them get anything there way.

Also keep your evidence stored in a file in a structured way in date order, starting with earliest date to and last being more recent dates. And provide an index for the evidence so each piece can be easily found in the folder. Separate them with index tabs or inserts. Then you can produce the folder and easily (within seconds) find relevant evidence to dispute anything they say that is not correct.

[Bogle1972]

Employment PMH fears !!

Evening All,

I have a question and need some advice. I have an employment tribunal PMH set for this month, basically my employer is trying to get the case thrown out. I believe in my case and have UNDISBUTABLE evidence to prove that I was never supported and that this harrassment was allowed to go on unchallenged.

These events that I have been going through have gone one for 4.5 years, they are saying my claim is out of time as I should have done something within 3 months of the events happening. But during the time these events were ongoing no manager ever bothered to reply to any of my emails requesting meetings for help.

I put in a grievence in Oct 2012 for Bullying and Harrassment, which HR investigated and came back with no findings, completely overlooking evidence and witness statements. They deicded to conduct the Rascism separately, and this investigation has gone on for over a year now. I got copied into an email by mistake between my HR and UNION REP where she was telling him that the transcript of my investigation
interview with HR had been lost and that the investigation has been a complete mess. So all the while, whilst I was requesting a copy of this earlier on in the year I was being Lied to i.e Its in the post.. we will send another copy. So in fact as far as Im concerned that investigation never happened as it wasnt a fair one.

So my question is, after years of racial abuse, false allegations, lies and lack of support, will my paperwork be taken into account at my PMH as there is quite a lot of it, and none of it can be disputed as I kept emails begging for help from back in 2009?

Hearing set for 14th Jan and Im really scared they will overlook what I have as I work for a very large health organisation in the UK

Thanks

[Honeypie]

Re: Employment PMH fears !!

Bogle1972,

I work for the civil service, and like yourself, I was racially bullied by my line management team. My advice is if you have any witnesses to support your claim, be prepared for a brutal cross examination. remember, no matter how well you answer the questions put to you. The Tribunal judge makes the final decision. Going from my own experience, some judges are very much pro employer.

If you unfortunately lose your case against your employer, bear in mind they may come after you for their cost. See the case Vaughan v Lewisham Council.

[bluebottle]

Re: Employment PMH fears !!

If you have been subjected to harassment on at least two occasions, the Protection from Harassment Act 1997 comes into play. It can be and has been used in cases of workplace bullying and, as employers have found, the cost of not dealing with workplace bullying is high. In the case of Majrowski -v- Guys and St Thomas's NHS Trust [2005], the defendant was ordered to pay £250,000. Employers very quickly find that they cannot pull the wool over the eyes of County Court and High Court judges as easily as they can that can of ET judges, and judges in the courts do not tolerate bullying. Also, with PfHA, the onus of proof is thrown onto the defendant. The claimant can claim for financial losses suffered as a result of harassment as well as anxiety suffered. Whereas with an ET you have three months less one day in which to commence proceedings, with PfHA, you have six years.

If you decide to go down the PfHA route, I would strongly advise you to be guided by a legal professional. Do not attempt to deal with it yourself.