What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Connecticut.
I want to know if I have legal recourse based on my statement below.
I resigned under extreme duress. I walked out of my job on August 26, 2008 after 11 years. I joined the Citi Private Bank in April 2006. This conflict started shortly after I started my new position; I complained that I felt inappropriate emails and behavior were targeted at me with the intent to damage my reputation in the office. I felt as if I was being bullied and pushed out of a job.
The Workplace Bullying Institute's
Definition of the Phenomenon
Workplace Bullying
is repeated, health-harming mistreatment of one or more persons (the targets) by one or more perpetrators that takes one or more of the following forms:
verbal abuse
offensive conduct/behaviors (including nonverbal) which are threatening, humiliating or intimidating
work interference -- sabotage -- which prevents work from getting done.
Workplace Bullying: (a) is driven by perpetrators' need to control the targeted individual(s) , (b) is initiated by bullies who choose targets, timing, place and methods, (c) escalates to involve others who side with the bully, either voluntarily through coercion, and it (d) undermines legitimate business interests when bullies' personal agendas take precedence over work itself.
It initially started with only a few people and grew to include more people. Everyday my coworkers would pass or stand in front of my desk and laugh at my appearance. They would make embarrassing comments about me that I could hear. They would look directly at my breast (men and women) as they would pass. I felt this was retaliation because I complained and confronted a few people about this specific and very offensive behavior. This was what I could not take most of all; it’s extremely degrading. I would constantly try to hide that part of my body.
This made me feel very uncomfortable, disrespected and harassed. I feel as if these were intimidation tactics to make me feel uncomfortable and make me want to leave. I would hate coming into work and would spend most of my time at my desk trying to avoid leaving it. I requested that my desk be moved to a part of the office with the least amount of traffic. I felt that the less visible I was, the less they would target me. I started to question myself about my appearance despite the fact that this was never an issue in the past .I would spend a lot of time trying to make improvements thinking if I changed my clothes or my hair , it would make things better. I was trying to be perfect because even an opened button or a hanging peace of thread would be noticed.
It seems very trivial. A few instances could be ignored, but this was done on a daily basis. This could not be ignored. It was daily nitpicking with the attempt to make me feel humiliated. I could not believe that this was going on in a professional environment and how much effort and time was spent on this bullying behavior. They used bullying, intimidation gestures that were very demeaning and disrespectful. I worked for the bank 9 years in a Citibank branch prior to this without any problems.
I was new to this department, I felt that no one would believe me; this was a small office and for the most part everyone worked well together. It was their word against mine. I told my manager about what was going on in November 2006; I then escalated the issue to her manger in January 2007. It only got worse after I complained. The human resources generalist did an investigation in April of 2007 and said that she could not find evidence of any wrong doing and my request to be transferred was denied. I never wanted to create trouble. I just wanted to be able to come to work and not be disrespected.
This past May I transferred to another office (I was still working in the same department) because of companywide restructuring and downsizing. This meant a longer and more expensive commute, but I was looking forward to a better work environment. Unfortunately things only got worse. It was like I was blacklisted. This was a much bigger office so there were more people to participate in these antics. I could not go to my managers because I felt they were doing the same thing. After almost 2 years of dealing with this it was taking a toll on my health. Every morning I had to come to work was very stressful for me. I felt isolated and depressed. Everyday I felt physically sick and tired. I love my job duties and did not intend to leave after working at this company for 11 years; I am a single mother of 3 children and I knew that finding a good paying job like this would be hard to find again. I felt that all the work and energy I put into this company meant nothing. I felt that my reputation was sabotaged. The last day I attended work I felt like I was going to have a breakdown. I would constantly be on the verge of tears. I just could not take it anymore. I will have to find another job and start over. Anything is better than going through that.
I was told to keep a record of the occurrences, I started to but it was like reliving the whole thing over again. As far as witnesses go, there were many, but none that would ever come forward in my defense. So I am the only witness . No one should ever have to go through anything like this. If I had to do it all over again, I would leave immediately. No job is worth so much pain and aggravation. The experience I went through will have an affect on me for sometime to come. This is so emotional for me that putting it on paper is the best thing I could do because I don’t believe my spoken words would be so coherent.
I want to know if I have legal recourse based on my statement below.
I resigned under extreme duress. I walked out of my job on August 26, 2008 after 11 years. I joined the Citi Private Bank in April 2006. This conflict started shortly after I started my new position; I complained that I felt inappropriate emails and behavior were targeted at me with the intent to damage my reputation in the office. I felt as if I was being bullied and pushed out of a job.
The Workplace Bullying Institute's
Definition of the Phenomenon
Workplace Bullying
is repeated, health-harming mistreatment of one or more persons (the targets) by one or more perpetrators that takes one or more of the following forms:
verbal abuse
offensive conduct/behaviors (including nonverbal) which are threatening, humiliating or intimidating
work interference -- sabotage -- which prevents work from getting done.
Workplace Bullying: (a) is driven by perpetrators' need to control the targeted individual(s) , (b) is initiated by bullies who choose targets, timing, place and methods, (c) escalates to involve others who side with the bully, either voluntarily through coercion, and it (d) undermines legitimate business interests when bullies' personal agendas take precedence over work itself.
It initially started with only a few people and grew to include more people. Everyday my coworkers would pass or stand in front of my desk and laugh at my appearance. They would make embarrassing comments about me that I could hear. They would look directly at my breast (men and women) as they would pass. I felt this was retaliation because I complained and confronted a few people about this specific and very offensive behavior. This was what I could not take most of all; it’s extremely degrading. I would constantly try to hide that part of my body.
This made me feel very uncomfortable, disrespected and harassed. I feel as if these were intimidation tactics to make me feel uncomfortable and make me want to leave. I would hate coming into work and would spend most of my time at my desk trying to avoid leaving it. I requested that my desk be moved to a part of the office with the least amount of traffic. I felt that the less visible I was, the less they would target me. I started to question myself about my appearance despite the fact that this was never an issue in the past .I would spend a lot of time trying to make improvements thinking if I changed my clothes or my hair , it would make things better. I was trying to be perfect because even an opened button or a hanging peace of thread would be noticed.
It seems very trivial. A few instances could be ignored, but this was done on a daily basis. This could not be ignored. It was daily nitpicking with the attempt to make me feel humiliated. I could not believe that this was going on in a professional environment and how much effort and time was spent on this bullying behavior. They used bullying, intimidation gestures that were very demeaning and disrespectful. I worked for the bank 9 years in a Citibank branch prior to this without any problems.
I was new to this department, I felt that no one would believe me; this was a small office and for the most part everyone worked well together. It was their word against mine. I told my manager about what was going on in November 2006; I then escalated the issue to her manger in January 2007. It only got worse after I complained. The human resources generalist did an investigation in April of 2007 and said that she could not find evidence of any wrong doing and my request to be transferred was denied. I never wanted to create trouble. I just wanted to be able to come to work and not be disrespected.
This past May I transferred to another office (I was still working in the same department) because of companywide restructuring and downsizing. This meant a longer and more expensive commute, but I was looking forward to a better work environment. Unfortunately things only got worse. It was like I was blacklisted. This was a much bigger office so there were more people to participate in these antics. I could not go to my managers because I felt they were doing the same thing. After almost 2 years of dealing with this it was taking a toll on my health. Every morning I had to come to work was very stressful for me. I felt isolated and depressed. Everyday I felt physically sick and tired. I love my job duties and did not intend to leave after working at this company for 11 years; I am a single mother of 3 children and I knew that finding a good paying job like this would be hard to find again. I felt that all the work and energy I put into this company meant nothing. I felt that my reputation was sabotaged. The last day I attended work I felt like I was going to have a breakdown. I would constantly be on the verge of tears. I just could not take it anymore. I will have to find another job and start over. Anything is better than going through that.
I was told to keep a record of the occurrences, I started to but it was like reliving the whole thing over again. As far as witnesses go, there were many, but none that would ever come forward in my defense. So I am the only witness . No one should ever have to go through anything like this. If I had to do it all over again, I would leave immediately. No job is worth so much pain and aggravation. The experience I went through will have an affect on me for sometime to come. This is so emotional for me that putting it on paper is the best thing I could do because I don’t believe my spoken words would be so coherent.
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