06/03/02
The following day, Ray finally broke down - months of verbal abuse & mental bullying had caught up with him & he ended up crying on the end of his bed. Lisa rang the General Manager of the company to ask for a meeting to discuss Ray's grievances - she asked him if he had received Ray's letter to which he replied "yes" so she asked him what he was doing about it. He said he was calling all of his managers in for a meeting - She told him that Ray was very depressed & crying & he couldn't face his supervisor again but he was due on shift at 4pm that afternoon - the General Manager refused to say when he would see Ray - the phone was put down on him for being rude & arrogant. To this day, Ray has only ever seen the General Manager once - the day he started! (tell a lie, Ray also seen him when he flew past the lodge in his brand spanking new Mercedes) We have been told that he carried out an investigation but the company have not given us their findings.

Lisa then rang the general workers union that Ray belonged to & told one of the regional organizers about the Supervisor threatening Ray with violence - the union spoke to their legal department & said they would sue the company!

Ray had still not calmed down so Lisa rang his doctors & made an urgent appointment for that day.

Midday was arriving and the General Manager had not been in touch so Lisa rang the company to inform them that Ray would not be in for his shift that afternoon - in line with his contract. She told them that someone would be hand delivering Ray's sick note to the company that evening.

20 minutes later, Lisa received a phone call from the General Managers secretary telling her that she had spoken to management & Lisa was being told that she should post the sick note instead. Lisa told the secretary that in light of the current circumstances she would hand deliver the sick note personally that evening.

Ray went to see his doctor - who was most definitely not impressed!! Ray told him what he had been through & how he was feeling - he was immediately signed off for 2 weeks & put on 20 mg of Seroxat (anti-depressant) - the nature of illness recorded on the sick note was stress. Ray was signed off work with stress & depression caused by work place bullying.

During the 2 weeks that Ray was signed off, he wrote his full formal grievance & the tape was transcripted for him - he still cannot listen to it.. He had photocopied everything he needed to prove that he was being bullied & more importantly, he was being bullied because his supervisor was incompetent.

20/03/02
Ray's sick note ended, but he wasn't due back in work until the 22nd so Lisa rang the lodge & told the guard who was on duty that she was phoning to let them know that Ray was waiting to see his doctor before he could go back to work on Friday & that he would phone up on Friday morning to let the company know if his doctor would allow him to go back because he was on medication & the situation hadn't been resolved. This was in line with his contract - Click here to see it

22/03/02 
Ray went to see his doctor - he could not return to work for another week & he was given another sick note - this time describing the nature of the illness as Stress / Depression

At some point during the morning, the company sent their gardener out to hand deliver a suspension letter to Ray - for some reason & we really can't understand how this has happened unless the supervisor had been prying into Ray's personal belongings, the Gardener took the letter to the home of one of his friends - miles away from where he lives!!

Ray's friend was adamant that Ray didn't live there but the gardener kept pushing it onto her - she eventually took it because she was getting worried - she knew nothing of Ray's business & didn't know who was on her doorstep.

Ray rang the company to inform them that he wouldn't be turning in for his shift that afternoon because his doctor had not allowed it - he told them that someone would drop off the sick note that evening.

2 hours later, Ray gets a phone call from his friend to tell him about the suspension letter - Ray couldn't believe it - he had followed his contracts absence procedure & the company were now trying to suspend him whilst he was signed off sick by his doctor.

Ray opened the letter - there was no date on it but it said that he was suspended & had to attend a disciplinary meeting on Monday 25/03/02 - Ray was signed off until the 27/03/02. The reason for the suspension was because Ray had taped his supervisor, played it to his colleagues & this is gross misconduct which could result in his dismissal. Click here to read it

25/03/02
Because Ray was still signed off work (he couldn't drive because of his medication - it makes you shaky at first) he did not attend the second disciplinary meeting - Instead he rang the company & asked for an appointment with the General Manager - the General Managers secretary however put Ray through to HR. Ray again asked for an appointment with the General Manager  - HR asked what for & Ray told her that he had already sent the Manager a letter & he now wanted to see him - Ray was then told that the General Manager would not see him & he would have to speak to the Factory Manager.

Ray rang the company again a few hours later & got through to his supervisor - again he asked for an appointment with the General Manager - the supervisor put Ray on hold, when he came back on 2 minutes later he said that 'the general manager' was refusing to see Ray & if he had anything to say he had to put it in writing.

Ray rang the union organizer & told him what had happened - the organizer, after telling Ray previously to sue was now saying that there was nothing Ray could do except go through the disciplinary & appeal but he shouldn't get in touch with the General Manager because he didn't actually employ Ray.

26/03/02
It was looking more & more like Ray was about to be sacked so Lisa asked one of her colleagues to submit an application to the High Courts for an interlocutory injunction to restrain dismissal on Ray's behalf - half an hour later, the company's gardener had again turned up at Ray's friends house with a letter saying he had been dismissed due to continued absence. The Factory Manager who sacked Ray had never met him, he had sacked him 2 days before his sick note ran out & he hadn't written to Ray's doctor to see when he would be fit for work. His friend refused to accept letter as Ray did not live there but the gardener forced it on her. Click here to read the letter

Then, an hour later a woman turns up at Rays house with a letter saying that a man fitting the description of the company's gardener had dropped this letter off at her house - she had opened it, read it & told Ray he had been sacked before he even read the letter - a complete stranger told him he had lost his job - so much for confidentiality.

Ray rang the union organizer & told him what had happened - he told Ray again that the General Manager wouldn't speak to him but he didn't know who to appeal to - he attempted to put Ray off seeking legal advice & was of no use at all - it seemed to Ray that the union were covering up for the General Manager. We should point out here that the employees of this company had their own union but the company refused to recognise them - then, out of the blue, this big general workers union turns up, one that has next to no members within the company & one that the employees do not want & the company signs a 'sweetheart deal' with them - now we know why.

So, just to recap on the dates so we can show you the 'pattern'

	28/02/02 - First Disciplinary (Given Final Warning)
	04/03/02 - Appeal letter submitted to General Manager (Ignored)
	05/03/02 - Manhandled & threatened with physical violence by Supervisor
	06/03/02 - Signed off work for 2 weeks due to stress
	20/03/02 - Doctor refuses to allow Ray to return to work for another week
	22/03/02 - Company attempts to suspend Ray for taping his supervisor.
	25/03/02 - Disciplinary meeting - Ray does not attend due to ill health
	26/03/02 - Ray dismissed for being absent from work

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