It has been eight months and although a lot has happened you seem to be in the same position trying to get Lee to follow your directions and requests.

Since the meeting with Lee and Chris where they stated they would file a grievance against you, accusing you of bullying Lee, there has been an investigation.

It took all up seven months to finalize! Lee’s grievance was lengthy – outlining a number of incidents that, while they occurred, were inaccurate with regard to the detail.

There was, of course, no mention of Lee’s snide comments in meetings. This in itself took you a week to respond to; more time away from your real job!

You were interviewed, by the independent investigator, at least three times for about two hours each time.

About seven other people within the team and workplace were also interviewed over the grievance, which caused a lot of disruption in the workplace, took others away from their job, and worst of all upset a number of those who were interviewed. It seemed to you that the grievance process divided the workgroup into those who supported Lee and those who supported yourself.

Throughout this whole time you felt that you were unsupported by your manager. You understand that they had to be seen to be impartial but you really had no-one at work you could talk to. You felt very isolated at work. The only support you really felt was forthcoming was from home. In the end, you were cleared of all of Lee’s accusations, but your concerns about Lee’s behaviour were not addressed by the organization as too much time had passed since they had occurred. The outcome of the investigation was that yourself and Lee attend mediation together. You thought this was a good idea and may help you get to a point where the two of you could work effectively together. However, although you have attended three mediation sessions Lee only attended the first session. Lee made it very clear in this session that you are the one who needs the help. So it would seem Lee still thinks the problem is yours and there remains a lack of respect for your position and authority from Lee.

The crazy thing about the grievance investigation was that you were expected to manage Lee during the investigation! At issue here is the protection of all involved in the grievance investigation. If Lee’s claims were legitimate, you could have very easily retaliated against Lee. Alternatively, as in this case, where the accusations were either malicious or frivolous, it placed you as manager in a situation of limited power in terms of managing Lee, especially until the investigation was concluded. It would seem for the safety of all parties involved in the grievance, there was a need to separate you and Lee or if this was not possible, implement safeguards until an outcome had been reached.

Question 

1 What disruption did the grievance have on the workplace?
2 What would you do differently if you were the senior manager overseeing the investigation?
3 Did the investigation resolve the conflict that existed between Lee and yourself?