Bipolar and Working Online Support Group

Hi all I joined this group and left about a year ago thinking I wouldn't need support & could handle this alone. I need others that are working and have this disorder. I hope through reading and posting here I can get some solace & relief knowing I'm not alone in this battle.

My current work situation has become quite troublesome, I enjoy my work and my clients are wonderful but my supervisor, coworkers & human resources have been gas lighting me ever since my last crash which lasted almost 12 weeks.

For those that don't know what gas lighting is here's a good reference.

(Gaslighting is a form of psychological abuse in which false information is presented with the intent of making a victim doubt his or her own memory and perception)

So right now I've been racking my brain trying to figure out a way to combat this abuse.

Leaving my job is not an option right now due to the nature of my work.

What I'm being told by my supervisor & HR is not adding up with the facts.

HR & my supervisor turned everything around on me in a phone meeting, my supervisor was so defensive by my allegations he was to the point of yelling and telling me that my coworker did not have crucial information when in fact she does. She also has withheld this information making it hard for me & another coworker to be productive.

They also stated that I need to be more independent & show initiative, basically work alone.

I told them I would talk to the coworker and was told not to as it could be misinterpreted as harassment. Me & the other coworker which I work with have been going through this for quite a while, finding out about jobs that were high priority not being done. We were only made aware of spreadsheets & work lists that the other coworker kept from us by a manager reporting that the job was not getting done. She has not been reprimanded since she is also doing my supervisors paperwork keeping management off his back. People are afraid of loosing their jobs right now as there is talk of cutbacks. So instead of working as a team as we did in the past our supervisor has been pitting us against each other causing a breakdown in communication, and an every man for himself mentality.

This is only part of what I am faced with, I am not crazy or imagining this since I have my other coworker confide in me that the same thing was happening with him.

Post edited by: RickEJ, at: 06/15/2012 03:58 AM

That's terrible. This is not only discrimination but like you say, abuse.

I'm from the UK so don't know how it works in the USA but could you get some professional employment law / employment rights advice from a legal body?

Haven't got that far yet. Once management in HR gets my medical leave pay in order I plan on taking this up with them.

the manager Melodie will know how to handle this. She is well educated in the state & federal laws as well as our local division policies. I just have to wait for the dust to clear a little before stirring things up again.

I did make some progress with the coworker in question and managed to get access to a lot of the information that was available to me prior to my leave. I don't think what she is doing is personal because she had no issues with providing me with what I needed. I believe most of what is going on has more to do with my HR person and my supervisor.. I wonder what it is that they don't want me to know? It doesn't make sense to keep me from talking with my coworkers.

Sounds like you'll get to the bottom of it all, eventually. I hope so.

Well it isn't going very well as far as getting the pay I am entitled to. Although I was approved this person Melody turned on me like a mad viper. She promptly told me it couldn't be done and reduced my donated time by 81 hours and returned it to the people that donated it that day. Within hours I was reduced to 40hrs sick leave and no shared leave. She told me my HR person is well seasoned and knew what she was doing, I have the approval for the leave & it stated it is retroactive up to 60 days from the time I applied. In spite of me forwarding the approval she told me that the policy "should" stand on its own merits and considers the issue resolved. She made three mistakes 1) she redacted my approval undermining the approval of her HR person & pay role. 2) By doing so she is proving the point that my HR person is not as seasoned as she claims her to be. 3) confidential information I was not supposed to see was reviled to me. The fact she used the word "should" means that she is just unwilling to help and that the policy doesn't apply. It is more work for them to apply the leave but that's all.

This woman is supposed to be there to help instead she acted in haste and took away legally donated leave which I am entitled to. She has a PHD and was screwing up her spelling & sentence structures making her sound very unprofessional. After looking into my situation she was obviously flustered with the deficiencies in our HR department. Esp. with our HR person who has been messing up everyone's leave. I have heard from a person on the inside that HR is in dire straights right now and buried in unresolved issues.

I can see that this is going to be very messy, a simple request to release my money has turned into a major issue. Approved is approved, the is no grey area. She never did provide the policy that gives her the right to reduce someones leave. That's up to pay role and it was pay role who approved it. When she did this its no surprise she didn't include pay role in the email notifying me of the reduction. Sound underhanded to me esp. from someone in her position. I believe she abused her power in haste and now does not want to own up to her mistake.

Can you go above her head? Also, is there an agency in which you can go and seek legal adivce? In aust we have Fair Work Australia which is designed to deal with such matters.

Also go back to payroll and show them the email, if she has overstepped her authority then they might be able to sort it out.

It sucks you have to keep fighting this but hang in there