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emma26
07-03-2009, 09:15
What happens in the case of someone being physically assaulted at work by another co-worker?.

I mean, i know that it's obvious and the assaulter should have their employment terminiated (especially when the workplace have 2 other reports of this particular person putting their hands on the co-worker while at work in the past ... although these reports are dating back 3 years ago). The victim has also told the supervisor of the bullying but the supervisor does nothing. But what happens if this person lies about the incident, denys putting their hands on the victim????..

Because there are no witness's and it's their word againt 1 another, what should the workplace being doing to resolve the matter? Do they have the right to give both parties (the assaulter and the victim) the same 'Final warning'??.
When asked "why" did the victim recieve the same warning as the assaulter, the workplace response was "because there are no witness's, the assaulter is saying it did'nt happen, but you were both in some sort of incident at work, there for you both recieve the same punishment" :confused::confused::confused:

I mean, come on ... the workplace should be looking into this matter more as they are aware of this persons history with putting their hands on the same co-worker in the past and not to mention the victim has reported bullying to the supervisor but it's gone ignored ... but now the boss's are saying if the victim was not satisfied with the supervisors outcome, then the victim should have reported it to head office ...

The union is not involved because no one seems to have one, although the victim has now signed up for it.
The victim is being treated poorly but out of all the places that has been called for advice ...no one can help.
IMO, this incident could have been avoided if the supervisor did something about the bullying in the first place (especially when the supervisor knows about the past reports) ... the workplace have breached their legal duty of care by turning a blind eye to the harrassment and bullying but it's all done and dusted now, so what avenues do you take after something like this?.

wocket
07-03-2009, 09:35
I don't know, but I wanted to add myself to this for email updates because this has happened to me in the past.

Not the best way to do it but I eventually dealt with it by kneeing the guy in the crutch the next time he tried it, making sure there where no witnesses. Then he had a complaint about me...but got the same treatment as I had when I'd complained about him.

He tried it again the next day and backed it up with threats. This time I had a sound recording device with me and had proof. I didn't bother with my supervisor. I went strait to head office and the police to file a legal report. Things get a lot more serious when you have a legal document.

MamaKoala
07-03-2009, 09:53
Why hasn't this been escalated to head office? Is there a HR department? Or a whistle blowers hotline? Is there a security department? Any of these need to be notified of the harassment and everyone should be under investigation.
The victim should be writing all incidences down, dates times, and incidences. Is there a reason why these two people are alone together? Does the perpetrator follow the victim when they are going to the rest room, lunch room etc?
Bullying really gets me fired up, but you'd think that as adults people would be growing up some and leaving it in the school yard. I say the victim should do everything they can and go above the supervisor. If it's a large company then it will be dealt with quickly. If it is a small company then they may need to take it to the police or even the media for some action.
If the victim collects enough evidence then they can actually sue the supervisor for not ensuring their safety. This is not on and I hope whoever it happens to gets the help they deserve to stop this sort of behaviour.