Did you know that Metis HR does work on behalf of employees, provided they can complete our conflict checks with no challenge?
The Case
Recently Jennifer, a young female working in a tech company contacted Metis for help. Jennifer was experiencing a range of negative behaviours towards her at work. In particular from her manager. Initially, Jennifer was praised for her work ethic and performance, but then things changed.
Jennifer began working closely with one of her managers. At first this was fine, until he began frequently changing his requirements for tasks. Jennifer described his management style as ineffective and designed to always keep her guessing.
She would often be sent back to redo tasks without clear instructions. This led to a significant drop in Jennifer’s confidence and an increase in her anxiety.
The manager created a hostile and intimidating work environment, which had a substantial negative impact on Jennifer’s health. With no clear time frames given for her tasks, it made it extremely difficult for Jennifer to prioritise her workload.
Though Jennifer raised her concerns with another manager it was not addressed appropriately. This manager was on the same level as Jennifer’s manager and failed to respond to Jennifer’s concerns when she shared them with him.
During one particularly bad day, Jennifer experienced a severe migraine episode at work. There was a huge lack of support from management. Despite being unfit to drive and needing to leave work, her manager insisted that she stay until she had finished her tasks.
This added hugely to Jennifers anxiety and feelings of being unsupported. On another occasion during a phone call Jennifer her manager was aggressive and belittling towards Jennifer. This conversation left her in tears and brought on a panic attack.
Jennifer’s health began to decline even more rapidly as the stress and anxiety caused by her manager’s unreasonable behavior took a serious toll. For the first time in her life, she began to experience regular panic attacks. Despite her best efforts to seek support from her manager, her concerns were repeatedly dismissed, leaving her feeling helpless and with nowhere to turn.
That’s when Jennifer contacted Metis HR. Jennifer went on to make claims against her employer for sex, disability, age-related discrimination and harassment. She sought support to settle her employment without attending a tribunal, looking for payment of losses to date and compensation for injury to feelings.
We approached her employer on Jennifer’s behalf and notified them that Jennifer was willing to resolve matters swiftly and amicably without recourse to the Employment Tribunal. We informed the employer that if she was to succeed with her claims at Tribunal, any award of compensation would be uncapped given that this relates to a claim of discrimination. The claim was potentially valued at £26,000.
The Outcome
Metis HR helped Jennifer settle the claim and obtained her a glowing employment reference. The award Jennifer received allowed her time to recover her health before needing to apply for jobs. She no longer works in the Tech Industry.
Need to talk to us about an employment issue you’re experiencing? Call us on 01706 565332 or email jessica.fossey@metishr.co.uk or paul.roberts@metishr.co.uk and arrange a FREE consultation.
