'I was scared to go to work'

Unite member Jon had been working in a large local government organisation in West Yorkshire for more than a decade in a job he loved. A capital programme manager in housing, he never imagined he’d become the victim of a relentless, years-long bullying campaign that would totally upend his life and destroy his self-esteem.

But thanks to Jon’s dogged determination to seek justice, as well as Unite’s legal and workplace support, he’s secured an outcome that’s empowered him to move on, and to heal. This is Jon’s story.

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At the time the bullying started, Jon was in his 50s and felt experienced in his role and in navigating office politics. And so, at first, it didn’t faze him when he learned that his new line manager had earned a reputation for being difficult to work with.  

“She was known for being quite aggressive. She’d been in the council for many years and had risen through the ranks and into the senior management team. But I wasn’t worried – despite her reputation, I thought, ‘I’ve worked with people like that before, and I can make it work’.”

Jon quickly realised that his new line manager wasn’t simply a person with a bit of a chip on their shoulder – she was a full-on bully.

“Shortly after she assumed the role, the Covid pandemic happened and we went into lockdown,” Jon recalled. “We continued working, and in team meetings she would openly mock me in front of other colleagues.

“She would point to us individually and say, ‘You must tell me now that you will not speak to so-and-so in other departments’. But the problem was that these other people she forbade us from speaking to were colleagues we had to work with. Not speaking to them made it impossible for us to do our jobs.”

The bullying invaded Jon’s home life – the line manager would call after nine in the evening demanding that work be done at night.

“But the very worst of the bullying was when she would tell me every single day, every task I completed was wrong,” Jon recounted. “There was not an email I sent, a report I wrote, or a conversation I had with a colleague without being told I was wrong, and in a very confrontational, aggressive manner. If you hear this every single day, multiple times a day, you start to believe it.”

Jon said he was emailed or called more than ten times a day – both during and out of work hours – just to be criticised.

“You see your home as your sanctuary,” Jon explained. “But I’m at home in the evening with my family, and I have this person literally shouting at me on the phone. My daughter, who must have been 17 then, asked me, ‘Why are you letting this person do this to you’?”

Breaking point

Jon’s horrific experience reached a breaking point when he woke up one morning and told his wife he was scared to go to work.

“Those were the words I used. I was literally terrified of going to work.”

As the bullying intensified, Jon sought support from his HR department. He even sought support from his workplace’s Freedom to Speak Up guardian, who employees can turn to if they feel afraid to report wrongdoing within the organisation using normal channels. But everywhere he went, he was met with what he called “a wall of silence”.

“That was when I had a total nervous breakdown,” Jon said.

Jon was ultimately signed off sick for five months – it was a very dark, anguished time, which he described as being shrouded in a mental fog. But eventually, that fog started to lift. With extensive mental health support, he fully realised that what happened to him wasn’t his fault. He was the victim – and he was not totally worthless as his line manager’s bullying had led him to believe.

It was then that Jon felt determined to put a stop to the bullying – not just for him but for the sake of others who may become unwitting victims themselves.

Jon was far from being the only one – he reported that a number of colleagues took redundancy packages because they told him they couldn’t work with the perpetrator anymore; that doing so would make them unwell. Jon was determined to be the last victim.

Delays

While he recovered from his breakdown, he put in grievances with the support of his Unite rep. He was met with delay after delay – what started as individual bullying gave way to what he saw as institutional bullying, with those more senior closing ranks.

“The delays were, I believe, a management tactic,” Jon alleges. “They wanted to stress test me as an individual. Their thinking was, ‘How long will this person last before they just go away?’”

When Jon eventually returned to work, he was at first asked to work under the same line manager. When he refused, he was removed from his team and given work elsewhere.

“I saw this as another tactic,” Jon said. “They kicked me into the long grass. Before, I was managing several people, and after I returned, they made me work alone. I believe it was a deliberate attempt to isolate me; to stop me from speaking out.”

To further support his grievances, Jon requested evidence from his employer via a subject access request (SAR) and freedom of information (FOI). But this information was either withheld or misleading. Jon then forced his employer’s hand by demanding this information through the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).

After a year, his employer finally acknowledged four of the allegations in his grievance. Several years later – with Jon continuing to press his case with the support of Unite – the employer agreed to all his allegations. The allegations included “persistent belittling and public humiliation; deliberate withholding of information and exclusion; harassment, discrimination, and instances of violence”, among others.

‘Someone in my corner at work’

By this stage Jon had teamed up with Unite’s legal department. He was eager to hold his employer accountable for failing spectacularly in its duty of care to him. Ultimately, Jon secured a significant sum in compensation in an out-of- court settlement, which Unite’s legal team had advised him to accept.

Jon is quick to emphasise that for him, it was never about the money. It was about the injustice he faced being acknowledged. It was about ensuring that no one would experience the same ordeal again.

In the end, it was a bittersweet victory for Jon. While he didn’t get his full day in court, he was never silenced by a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) the way many of his colleagues who were also bullying victims were. His line manager left the organisation, and the department is now a happier and safer place.

Still, he adds, “The whole experience has left my family and I exhausted. I feel that I won the fight, but I didn’t get the knockout I wanted.  You never fully get over something like what I’d been through. Since my settlement, I’ve decided to retire. I could no longer work for an organisation I didn’t trust or respect. I asked management for an apology only to again be met with silence. I prefer to spend my time with people of stronger character.”

He’s nevertheless overjoyed by the support he received from Unite.

 “I felt for the first time I had someone in my corner at work,” Jon said. “I shared relevant information with my lawyers, and they carefully explained the process, warts and all. I had a clear understanding of the journey I was embarking on including any risks. [Unite solicitors] Thompsons helped me find the medical specialist I needed which allowed us to build our case.”

Now, Jon is eager to spread the word of the value of being in Unite. Jon had long paid his subs but never thought he’d need such extensive support from his union. He urges all workers to protect themselves and join.

“Any employer has vast resources – an HR department, legal teams, the lot – to protect themselves if things get down and dirty. As an individual worker, you’re an island; you’re on your own. That is, unless you’re in the union. Without the support of Unite, I wouldn’t have been able to afford the legal costs. My line manager would likely still be here; I would likely have left because of the pressure. And leaving would mean an implicit admission that they were right and I was wrong. That would have destroyed me.”

For anyone who might find themselves in a similar situation as Jon, he advises members to seek the support of their union.

“If you feel something is wrong but your cries for help are ignored, then go speak to your union rep. You pay your subs and that’s what they are there for — to listen, advise and help. They helped me; they will help you too.”

If you believe you are the victim of workplace bullying, find out more here.

Do you need workplace support? Join Unite here.

By Hajera Blagg