MDTSenior Contributor
Is this workplace bullying? I am unsure... this will be a long post
Hi all
I will need to change names to keep it anonymous so here goes. I need some advice over how to process what happened 2 days ago at work.
On Tuesday afternoon at work I was sitting there doing whatever work I'm meant to. The manager (call her D) comes over to talk to me and ask me how I am etc. D asks what I'm doing in life at the moment, if I was full-time yet, what I am studying etc. I replied by saying that I was still going in my job to which D replies "oh isn't that bad is it?"
This brief interchange took place in the open so that everyone around could hear it. I told D what it was that I was studying and then D drags in N (one of the young ones who works at this work stations) into the chat we are having because he studied that too. Both ask where I am studying at and I said it was online.
As this is taking place, I noticed two people listening in and smiling while its going on. One of them is P (who i know to be relatively new to their role) who i tried to talk to in the morning when I had to deliver some stuff to them. Had nothing to say to me except the basics. The other person listening in someone called T (who has been there a while).
so the manager "D" would have no reason to actually care how I was or what I was doing. Last time I was there at that workstation, she got told about my trip to hospital and that I was badly treated there. In this particular work stations there is an "in group" who I think are close to her. Towards the end of last year i accidentally tagged someone from that workstations in an email (lets call that employee R) and R found out about what myself and my friend J (who quit) thought about this work station.
I believe in simple terms, what has happened is that my confidence has been breached in light of me mistakenly tagging R in an email chain. Then because R is in the in group with T and N, they have told the manager "D" about what I said and D has then told them all about what happened to me last year in relation to hospital.
The reason I think this has happened is because of the way I was treated last time, but also this time people were not talking to me. Only a few people did bother and then when that happened I was unaware if they were interested or they were merely keeping up appearances. Only the "out group" spoke to me at any length and more or less avoided me.
The reason I think this has happened is because of the way I was treated last time, but also this time people were not talking to me. Only a few people did bother and then when that happened I was unaware if they were interested or they were merely keeping up appearances. Only the "out group" spoke to me at any length and more or less avoided me.
The out group at this work station are the ones who are treated like shite. The ones they underpay and overwork. The people who don't wanna say anything about the way they are treated because they are worried about how they will get treated. At about 5 mins before the end of the work day, one of the guys in the out group leaves - let's call him M - actually bothered to say goodbye to me as he walked off. To which I made a point of audibly saying "see you later M, good to see you again, take care".
As I walked out to leave the work station I said "catch you later" to Q. She said "see you tomorrow". I didn't say anything and left. I wasn't going to be in the next day (yesterday) and just left.
It must be one of the weirdest, surrealist and most unconformtable experiences I have had in any workplace ever.
Clearly an apple cart was upset by me last year and I believe D is trying to get back at me by talking to me in front of everyone. I could see through it all about half way through.
I am still trying to understand it all and I need some help to figure it all out and if i should raise it
