My seizure occurred in May 2011 in a busy town centre and was witnessed by my husband, who fortunately caught me as I fell to the ground. A neurologist has confirmed in writing that the workplace stress I was under was likely to be a significant contributory factor in this occurring. Unfortunately as my husband's first wife died of a seizure when his two daughters were 2 and 4 years old, my husband experienced a post-traumatic reaction in response to my seizure, fearful I too was going to die. As a result, my husband was unable to continue working and took early retirement at the end of December 2011.
Following the seizure, I had to undergo numerous hospital tests over months including CT scans, MRI scans etc. and this also added to the stress as we waited to find out whether I had an underlying problem such as epilepsy, a brain tumour or heart condition. The results fortunately were negative and a diagnosis of an anoxic seizure was confirmed. Even after my seizure, staff (a few of whom I had considered personal friends) were not allowed even to send me get well messages, a card or flowers. This was deeply hurtful and added immensely to my distress. My husband asked the trustees to lift the ban on communication between me and the charity staff but the trustees refused.
The ostracisation continued for two months. I still had no information in writing about the allegation against me, still no procedures had been followed and I continued to be denied any opportunity to defend myself, I continued to not understand why I was being ostracized nor why I was being treated in such an inhumane way. In a later blog I will explain a little about the allegation but it is my belief that the trustees took the opportunity of using the malicious allegation as a means to remove me as the founder leader of the charity. Sadly I have discovered that it is a relatively common occurence for Charity Founder Leaders to be unceremoniously and aggressively removed by Charity Board of Trustees.
The ostracisation continued for two months. I still had no information in writing about the allegation against me, still no procedures had been followed and I continued to be denied any opportunity to defend myself, I continued to not understand why I was being ostracized nor why I was being treated in such an inhumane way. In a later blog I will explain a little about the allegation but it is my belief that the trustees took the opportunity of using the malicious allegation as a means to remove me as the founder leader of the charity. Sadly I have discovered that it is a relatively common occurence for Charity Founder Leaders to be unceremoniously and aggressively removed by Charity Board of Trustees.
Towards the end of July 2011 shortly after receiving the results of my numerous hospital tests, the Board of Trustees terminated my secondment without any discussion with me.
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Thank you for reading my blog. Please feel free to offer your thoughts and suggestions.
It is common for an employer to state something like "you may not have contact with any potential witnesses etc to ongoing disciplinary / grievance proceedings etc" - however they should not be able to blanket ban comms with staff not directly involved and not part of the allegation etc. This does sound very bad :-( and I offer my full sympathies.
ReplyDeleteHumans by nature are social animals and to be cut off and isolated from friends is a cruel blow for anyone to suffer.
Hope this resolves soon for you and if not that that the path to resolution begins to appear on the horizon for you both.
Stay strong.
Thank you. ACAS guidance is that the restriction on contact should not normally extend beyond 2 weeks and this relates to a disciplinary investigation. There was no investigation. I think from the beginning one or two trustees planned to get rid of me. Shockingly the prime instigator was someone I trusted, liked and confided in.
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