An incident occurred on Wednesday 20 July which I consider to be threatening behaviour. There have been issues with this individual before and this led me to think again about the reasons people want to be awkward with, bully, or hate, someone they may not even know. This person appears to have listened to and believed gossip about me from one of my former colleagues in the civil service who used to live in my locality. [Possibly people who like to gossip need to think more carefully about the harm it can cause others.]
Category Archives: Workplace Bullying Blog
BULLYING MANAGER
People who have been to the home of the manager who bullied me comment on the number of photos there are. One person said to me that most people have photos of their loved ones on display in the lounge. This manager’s are all of himself. Mostly, he is posing with a guitar (he has been in local rock bands for many years and is moderately talented). Does this show who the person he loves most is?!
ONLINE BULLYING
I left the civil service after my niece took it upon herself to discuss her own perception of my private and family life with my manager when he contacted her. [This is despite us having had very little contact with each other over the years.] When I asked her for a statement after I had resigned she denied the whole thing, although she has admitted it to other people. If someone feels they have the right to involve themselves in such a situation, I believe at least they could apologise and try to rectify the harm done. At the time of asking her for the statement I explained that I had been bullied at work. She then appeared to see me as someone she too could bully.
WORKPLACE BULLYING: WHAT HAPPENED
This is my experience of being bullied and how it can affect your life. This is for people who have been bullied in the past and may recognise aspects of my experience – and those who may be bullied in the future.
In 2010 I was working for a government agency by which I had been employed for 10 years. It is based in a small English seaside town and is part of a large government department. I am a single woman with an adult son. I enjoyed a social life and dated but was not in a long term relationship. I went out 3 times with a man I had known casually for about 2 years. He ended the relationship which I accepted without any difficulty as I had begun to hear rumours of lies of a sexual nature that he had been spreading about me. I had asked him on several occasions not to talk about me as I am very private. As soon as he had ended the relationship he wanted to resume it, but I had by now realised he had truthfulness issues so was not interested. With hindsight I could have handled this better with him but I was very upset at the lies. He had previously told me he suffered from depression and he seemed to be an attention-seeker. He then began a 5 year hate campaign, spreading rumours about me, which continues to this day.