Have you been bullied at work? It’s surprisingly common, even in the highest places.
You can’t have missed the news reports that the Duchess of Sussex is alleged to have bullied some of her staff over the two years when she was a working royal. The Times reported that royal aides were left ‘broken’, ‘humiliated’, ‘sick’, ‘terrified’ and reduced to tears by the Sussexes. Apparently, two PAs were ‘forced out’ from their posts through ’emotional cruelty’, and another had her confidence undermined.
No action was taken at the time, but the HR team at Buckingham Palace is now conducting an internal review where Kensington Palace staff will be invited to talk about their experiences of working for the couple, to see what lessons can be learned.
The couple have denied the accusations and are calling it a ‘smear campaign’ launched in response to the Oprah interview which is due to be broadcast in the US this weekend. The Duchess recently won a breach of copyright claim after the Mail on Sunday published extracts from a letter she wrote to her father, Thomas Markle. The amount she will receive has not yet been decided but she has vowed to donate the damages to an anti-bullying charity.
What counts as bullying at work?
Here are some of the behaviours that count as bullying in the workplace:
- Spreading malicious rumours
- Unfair treatment
- Picking on someone
- Regularly undermining a competent worker
- Denying someone’s training or promotion opportunities
- Unwanted banter
- Public humiliation
Have any of these happened to you?
If the mistreatment was due to your gender, race, age, religion / belief, age, disability, sexual orientation or political allegiance, then you might be able to make a claim for discrimination.
If your employer allows the mistreatment to continue to the extent that you feel forced to resign, you might be able to make a claim for constructive dismissal.
What to do if you’ve been bullied at work
Under the Equality Act, bullying and harassment based on certain characteristics are unlawful. If the bullying and harassment is due to other reasons, and your employer fails to deal with the issue correctly, you may be entitled to resign and claim constructive unfair dismissal. Your employer should not only have a bullying and harassment policy in place, but should also actively implement good practice.
If that doesn’t happen, or if your complaints are not handled correctly, you may be able to make a claim.
If you win, you may be granted financial compensation or be in a position to negotiate an exit as part of settlement agreement (known as a compromise agreement in Northern Ireland).
Note that every situation is different, and there are strict time limits, so it’s important to take legal advice early. As employment lawyers, we only act for employees, have years of experience in this area, and will be happy to help.
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