In or around March 2016, our client’s managers advised him that he was to manage the night shift staff. They advised him that one particular staff member, JK, was known to be problematic and confrontational, but did not provide any practical advice as to how to deal with them.
In May 2016, our client began experiencing issues with night shift staff, particularly JK.
From February 2017 to April 2017, JK continued to harass our client both inside and outside of the workplace.
From March 2017, JK continuously threatened to reveal our client’s affair with a man to his wife. Events occurred that ultimately led to our client reporting JK’s behaviour to the police. Instead of sympathy, management was angry that he involved the police. Later, HR informed our client that they had decided not to suspend JK as this was not a work-related issue.
In June 2017, JK threatened yet again to out our client to his wife. Our client reported this harassment to management but no action was taken. Subsequently, JK contacted our client’s wife and outed our client, resulting in the breakdown of his marriage. Our client became homeless and his children had to go into hiding due to threats of honour violence.
Our client attended JK’s disciplinary hearing on 6th October 2017 and was advised that she would receive a final written warning. This led to a deterioration in our client’s mental health and he was absent from work between 9th October 2017 and 11th December 2017.
In November 2017, our client received a letter stating his sickness pay had been exceeded and he would go onto statutory sick pay. No consideration was given to the fact he was off because of harassment by a colleague. Our client discussed this issue with HR and was advised that he would only receive full pay if he returned to work. Therefore, our client returned to work on 12th December 2017. He was moved to another residential facility on 18th December 2017 and was to have bi-weekly meetings with a manager.
Our client approached Setfords to assist in his claim. Court proceedings were served on 12th November 2020 and the claim was ultimately settled for a five-figure sum in April 2022.