Serious incident at work being ignored

[adambart84]

Nearly 2 months ago I was verbally and then physically assaulted by an outside contractor at work while carrying out company business, it was nothing major just a bit of mouthing and a shove but was totally unprovoked, I immediatley put in a formal report to my manager but as of yet there has been no resolution, this contractor continues to work with us as usual.

It further complicates the matter that this contractor has a family member working for the company as well as being a personal friend of my manager, I would like to know what my options are? This has all caused me quite a bit of distress as i'm certainly not the fighting type, its now concerning me a lot that this person is not being punished and that this will be ignored.

Thanks as always for any help offered

[wales01man]

Re: Serious incident at work being ignored

Were there any witnesses to this if not it becomes your word against theirs which makes things difficult same as in any alleged assault.
Have you put all the details in writing to a Manager or director there must be some procedure in place for incidents like this.

Others on LB will offer great advice as its the weekend thay may not respond until monday

[adambart84]

Re: Serious incident at work being ignored

Yea there was one other witness who is more than willing to report as he had to intervene, there should also be CCTV footage if required. The assault hasnt been disputed, the contractor called my manager as soon as it happened and at first blamed me, but then after I spoke to my manger he changed his story and admitted that he was unprovoked. 2 days later I put the formal complaint in with my manager, and as far as I know the witness has been told he will need to make a statement but nothing has been organised as yet.

[Nomoneynoproblem]

Re: Serious incident at work being ignored

If you have reported it to your Manager and s/he has failed to take the necessary action then you will need to take it a step further by going to their Line Manager or company director with your complaint.

Regards
NMNP

[adambart84]

Re: Serious incident at work being ignored

Well I assume it would be considered an ongoing investigation, but surely action should have been taken immediately as there is no dispute over what happened?

I was thinking of just sending a copy of the report to HR, would this be a good thing to do?

[adambart84]

Re: Serious incident at work being ignored

Well to update, I got a very vague phone call around Christmas time to say that the regional director had suggested that they keep the current maintainence guy on until they find someone else to do it and would I be happy with this, I didnt say either way but she said she would speak to me about it in person the next day, yet its now been over 2 months and nothing has been said and the same guy continues to do our work although he is kept away from me.

There has to be something else I can do, this is really bothering me everytime I think of it I get really annoyed about how its been swept under the carpet as if nothing happened

[Openlaw15]

Re: Serious incident at work being ignored

Nearly 2 months ago I was verbally and then physically assaulted by an outside contractor at work while carrying out company business, it was nothing major just a bit of mouthing and a shove but was totally unprovoked, I immediatley put in a formal report to my manager but as of yet there has been no resolution, this contractor continues to work with us as usual.

It further complicates the matter that this contractor has a family member working for the company as well as being a personal friend of my manager, I would like to know what my options are? This has all caused me quite a bit of distress as i'm certainly not the fighting type, its now concerning me a lot that this person is not being punished and that this will be ignored.

Thanks as always for any help offered

Your employer owes you a duty of care which includes ensuring there is no bullying, threatening behaviour, intimidation by other employees and or independent contractors. The independent contractor also owes the same duty of care. It is potentially a criminal offence of either harassment and or assault and battery. When someone threatens you where you fear they will hit you, this is assault. Where the person then makes contact with you, ie push, shove, this is battery. So it is technically a criminal assault and battery. If they threaten you anymore or push or shove, you can refer this matter to the police. Tell your employer you will not tolerate this conduct anymore and if this independent contractor hurts you that you'll take action against your employer (who's liable for it indirectly) or sue the independent contractor too, as well as reporting the matter to the police as a crime.

[FloppyEars]

Re: Serious incident at work being ignored

I can tell you from experience the police are a gamble, depends on the individual officer, whether your face fits with them or not (i've seen them say things like "we reviewed the cctv [only after they were pressed to do so] we found no evidence of assualt" Also seen the police say "i would advice you to pursue this as a civil matter". I would use your situation as a future safeguard, make notes of the event - times, dates correspondence/evidence that you raised a complaint, if there's any issues in the future, or somewhere down the line they decided to target you "that guy that complained" you would already have good ammo against them.
Regarding the phone call, if you said "yes" i agree, they would likely think this covers them, treat it as a dropped complaint, it ultimately wouldn't and in any case don't agree. Also depending on the type of people in management, they might see you as a nuisance (in their minds) hence why i suggest to keep strong records of the events you describe. If he's kept away from you, let it slide/bite your tongue and think about your notes for your advantage in future should the need ever arrise.

[adambart84]

Re: Serious incident at work being ignored

Thanks for the response even if it isnt happy reading, basically this guy is going to get away scott free just because he is friendly with my local manager, I have to say it makes my blood boil.

[FloppyEars]

Re: Serious incident at work being ignored

Don't get me started, i can't remember the last place i worked where i didn't think to myself "where are the adults in this place to deal with the juvenile behavior" The government message is clear. "You have no rights outside of criminal law unless you've worked at the same place more than 2 years" "even then be ready to climb a mountain if you want even a glimmer of justice"
What i said isn't gospel just my opinion. I lost my faith in the police a long time ago, after being in the office co-dealing with a couple of incidents (one i previously referred to) and witnessing criminal police action against people protesting fracking and various other things, the police simply cannot be trusted, though this may seem like i have the hump, this very conclusion can be reached from a simple unbiased observation of certain facts.
The police force as it stands is simply a big advertisement for ignorant narcissistic, sociopaths to join a gang and get paid for it.

I have been assaulted before (just a push and bad words by a drunk because he was offended i walked away from him after he refused to accept i didn't have cigarettes) Police officer claimed he saw "an altercation" (the worst i did was tell the guy to go home and sleep it off) despite the fact that anyone genuine would clearly see that i was obviously not aggressive and the other guy was, the officer simply wanted to find a way to put me in a van, it was only after another man and woman (who witnessed the exact event the officer did, only from further away) pointed out the obvious to the officer, that he "insisted" i give my details before he let me go. I would have been arrested for sure (could just tell by the type of person he was) were it not for the other couple also finding it odd that i was being threatened with arrest, the drunk was being dealt with by the female officer who was telling her "we were just having a disagreement"
The lesson i learned was, "Don't think walking home whilst minding your own business will be enough to save you from being targeted by a sociopath police man..." I feel safer walking by a group of thuggish looking youths than i do the police these days, of course because they put on the telly that police only deal with criminals, everyone will assume "you must have done something wrong" the same "everyone" are the type who form their opinions on anything but the facts.