1. Art and Diseño

Chapter 01: My nightmare began
In December 2005, I started working for this company “Weston Free Church Housing
Association trading as Abbeycare Homes – a non – Profit Charity Organisation”. The
company consisted of three residential homes, each of the homes had a manager; a general
manager and committee members to oversee the three homes were running smoothly. I
started as a part-time carer working in all three homes but mostly in Gough House. Whenever
staff were off sick leave/holidays, I would be the one to cover. Was interacting with many
staff members, really enjoyed my job, looking after the residents. In the meantime, I was
working towards establishing my own therapy business, this included voluntary work.
Furthermore, I strived to work all the hours I could, as a single parent I had a mortgage and
bills to pay.
All the employees including my manager I worked alongside, were very helpful and
supportive. July/august 2006, my sister told me that her sister-in-law was applying for a job at
my workplace; this was very unwelcoming news for me as she was the bully at school. At the
same time, the general manager retired and a new general manager was appointed, the new
general manager started for the company but rarely at work, as she was always on the
sick. In November 2006, the new general manager suspended my manager from work on
various false allegations. My manager was absolutely devastated and became extremely
stressed and being only 9 months from retirement. All the staff were told by the new general
manager that nobody was allowed to go and see her while all investigations were under way
(there were no investigations under way, these were all false allegations). I went to see her,
and realised that my Manager did not have the strength to fight, her husband was very ill at
this time, so she resigned.
It wasn’t long before she was replaced by my sister’s sister in law, this astonished me how
quickly she was put in such a responsible position! The new general manager and my new
manager became very pally pally! I became suspicious. Furthermore, I had been informed
that in the new manager’s previous employment, she walked out under a black cloud. In
another position she had previously held, she was involved in having a care home closed
down.
In her new position of manager, it wasn’t long before the atmosphere changed – badly. Over
a period of time, many staff left due to the manager’s behaviour, including a resident and the
volunteer Chaplains, who conducted the weekly prayers. I noticed a great decline of staff
morale and the mood of residents. They were becoming less happy.
Chapter 02: The start of the bullying
At this specific time, I was in training for my sport; I was a member of the Great Britain
Powerlifting Federation, my son Carlin is also a member. Sometimes with work, I needed to
change the odd night shift to accommodate for my competitions, this was very rare though.
On one occasion there was a misunderstanding in communication regarding this particular
night shift I requested off, a new employee was supposed to have covered my shift, She
never did. The very next morning, I received a very abusive voicemail message from the
Manager, Beverley Young, assuming I had left my job! I called her straight away to find out
what had happened? She never did let me talk and was constantly raising her voice to me,
threatening me with suspension! She stated that the home was short staffed and I had left
them in chaos, so to suspend me would surely leave the home with a bigger problem; surely
not the actions of a competent manager unless there was an ulterior motive. Never once did
my manager ask me during our telephone conversation, “Is everything ok or has anything
happened bad for you not to come into work”? It was hard to imagine, this person did not
appear to have changed since school. All the time I have worked for this company, I have
never been absent and I have always been available to cover staff. The very next day, I
telephoned the chairman of the company Richard Loynes, to explain to him, he didn’t seem
too bothered, was more interested in telling me about the holiday he was about to embark on.
So I called the vice chairman, she seemed helpful at first but as time went on, she obviously
only listened to my manager. I really thought the committee would sort this, surely this was
something that should’ve been sorted straight away face to face, which would have been
resolved in 5 minutes. As a result of it not being discussed, it became 5 years of sheer hell!
That evening, my son Jack was training at our home gym, as he opened the garage door, the
manager’s daughter came walking towards him and said “Can you give this to your Mum” so
with that Jack placed the letter down on the side, thinking nothing of it. My other son Carlin
came home and placed his coat down over the letter; it wasn’t long before I returned home,
luckily! I moved Carlin’s coat and saw the letter. I could not believe my eyes upon reading it,
my manager was trying to accuse me of some form of gross misconduct! I was in complete
shock, thinking, having worked hard all my life raising my family to the best of my ability and
get this once “school bully” still being a bully! Additionally, she had got one of the co-workers
to telephone me to tell me not to come back into work, stating they shall be a letter in the post
explaining everything to me. Over the next couple of days, I received a letter suspending me
from work until further notice, furthermore I was given a date for a disciplinary hearing. The
date the manager set up for the hearing, was the date I was scheduled to go away on holiday;
the manager knew this or ought to have known this, this hearing needed to be rescheduled.
All the letters I received back and forth from my manager were all unprofessional, no headed
company paper and it looked like these were all done on her home computer. Some of the
letters were hand delivered to my home address. My holiday was spoilt, in fact, I had a
terrible time, constantly thinking of the disciplinary hearing. I knew, I had done nothing wrong
and it was just a misunderstanding.
Chapter 03: The disciplinary hearing
The day of the disciplinary hearing had arrived. My friend Robert came with me, Robert used
to be my accountant for a business my ex-partner and I used to have. Robert was also a
witness to the abusive voicemail message that my manager had left on my mobile phone.
The day before the hearing I telephoned the home, to tell them I was bringing a friend along.
All my work colleagues were too scared to support me at the disciplinary, however, some
colleagues knew this was wrong and did nothing. I felt so humiliated. This person conducting
the hearing was the school bully! I took my Dictaphone in with me to record the hearing
secretly. Thank god I did! The utter lies told were unbelievable! There were two of my coworkers also present, you could sense they had been subjugated by the manager. Robert
was very supportive, I was so grateful to have him with me. The manager was constantly
trying to twist our words, she was even talking over us, all of which was on the recording;
Robert was very professional to her and she did not like it. She was put in a position of
realising she had been wrong in her actions and had to agree in letting me return to work.
Robert needed to ask the manager to repeat what she had said, to be sure we understood. I
believe had I been on my own 3 against one, no doubt, things would have been different!
Wednesday approached and I was feeling very anxious upon my return to work. It didn’t feel
right after all my manager had put me through, but I was so determined to stay put! I felt
uneasy and I was on my guard at all times. I’d spoken to my brother -in -law regarding his
sister’s behaviour, he did say, “She has always been a bully” something I did already know
through my school day experiences. Apparently, there was a family feud going on at this time,
which had nothing to do with me! It started to make perfect sense, obviously I was a target for
her revenge, which was supposed to be directed at her own brother and his wife, my Sister.
With the help of my manager’s brother, I wrote a grievance letter to the company’s chairman.
This manager was allowed to act as freely as she wanted. Staff were coming and going, the
turnover of staff since the new management took over was huge. This was serious bullying! In
a space of a couple of weeks of returning back to work, I received a written warning along
with the Minutes, these were 3 weeks late. The manager had stated on the minutes, that my
friend Robert had said at the start of the hearing he was from a Union, the two co-workers
also were stating Robert said he was from a Union, this was untrue; It was clearly heard on
the tape recording Robert never mentioned anything about Unions. The manager had now
decided to turn the misunderstanding into a written warning, when it had already been agreed
by all parties at the hearing that this was a misunderstanding. Additionally, I noticed some of
the staff had changed towards me, even to the point of ignoring me. I felt completely isolated!
The grievance hearing was now scheduled, and I was hoping the committee could see all of
this was wrong.
My grievance hearing was with the vice chairman Elizabeth Speakman and the treasurer
Nigel Dean. I explained to them both what had happened. I wasn’t too sure whether they
listened or not. Mrs. Speakman started waving some paperwork up in the air as Mr Dean
stated, we are taking this very seriously. They told me to gather statements of former
employees who had previously been subjected to bullying by the manager. At first I thought,
this was an odd thing for them to say, surely the company should be doing this, anyway I
agreed. As I was leaving the hearing the treasurer stated “We don’t want this getting messy
now and in the papers” Was this some sort of threat? Although, I went to this hearing alone, I
thought I could trust these people, especially as it was being held in a church! My headaches
were constant, my concentration become poor, that’s why my sister and her husband were
helping. My brother-in-law told me to go to see the doctor. My doctor stated: “You cannot
possibly work in that environment “ and he signed me off sick.
Chapter 04: Getting the Union involved
By this time, I was able to contact my Union regarding my workplace, you needed to be in the
union quite some weeks, I only recently joined a month prior to all this. Immediately, I
telephoned my union representative, he said he would write to Abbeycare homes to find out
what was happening. Within a month, my union rep had sent two letters to the company, he
never received any response back. So he decided to call the general manager,
Pauline Harvey. He had arranged a meeting with the general manager, himself and I. The
meeting soon approached. We both arrived at the office, as we entered the room, the GM put
her Dictaphone on the desk asking if she mind us recording, my Union Rep replied “Could
you make copies for us too?”.
During the meeting the GM stated to myself and my union rep that “Beverly was completely
and totally wrong – what she should have done – and you probably know this there should
have been an informal meeting you could have explained, wrong procedure completely! – I’m
not going to deny that – she is an inexperienced manager”. My Union rep and I just sat there
in total disbelief, according to the company website, the manager has 20 years’ experience.
My Union rep and I waited over a month for some sort of response back regarding this
meeting, the GM started to refer this meeting, as the 1st grievance hearing. The company
were not following their procedures, nevertheless, I continued on following their own
procedures. My Union rep and I had now received copies of the tape recording from the
meeting, both tapes were blank. My Union rep telephoned the GM, stating the tapes are
blank! She replied to my Union rep, “Nobody in Gough House likes working with Jennifer,
she’s aggressive”. He could not believe what he was hearing! The minutes of this meeting
from the general manager were 6 weeks late.
My grievance appeal hearing date was now scheduled with the chairman. Over four months it
has taken to get to this stage. This time we both recorded the hearing. My Union Official and I
relayed, how I was being bullied by the manager, to the chairman and Ann Cubitt who was
taking the minutes. Furthermore, I produced seven statements from former employees,
stating they felt bullied by the manager too. One statement was from a lady who was the
companies NVQ assessor for all three care homes. She had been targeted and sent several
abusive text messages from the manager Beverley Young. She was even informed by text
that she had breached confidentiality. The NVQ assessor also stated: “I did not wish to work
for the company any longer with all the lies and deceit that was taking place. Since leaving
Abbeycare, I have found that all the people that Mrs. Harvey and Mrs. Young told me in
confidence they wished to get rid of have in fact all gone as well as anyone who did not agree
with them or their way of running Gough House.”.
After having produced 6 character references, two of which, were from managers employed
by the company, the chairman looked at all the statements and references with sheer disgust
on his face, tossing them to one side, he never listened to a word I said, he knew exactly
what the outcome was going to be, before this hearing had even started. The grievance
appeals hearing outcome was based on the manager’s statement and four other statements.
The Chairman’s’ conclusion was: “That the allegations of bullying could not be substantiated,
as such no further action would be taken in regard to this matter” I was just so glad, I
recorded the hearing. My union rep and I requested to have copies of all the statements from
my manager and my ex colleagues. This was the first time I had ever viewed these
statements.
By now, I was extremely bewildered. My health was on a decline, having to visit my doctor on
a regular basis. Unfortunately, I was unable to continue down at the health club anymore, as
a therapist. One of my client’s I did work for, was Lenny Henry the British comedian. My
statutory sick pay didn’t stretch very far, I was having to use all my savings to pay towards my
mortgage, as I was unaware I could off received some sort of help towards the mortgage. My
sons were working for their father’s business and contributing financially, this was such a
burden for them. My family could start to notice why this once normal, outgoing and confident
person was gradually turning into a withdrawn, angry, human being! I needed to stay strong,
Carlin was representing Great Britain in July, in the Czech Republic but I was feeling terribly
low and isolated. Having exhausted all avenues, my Union Rep advised me to resign, so I
took his advice, however, I was determined to fight on.
Chapter 05: Legal proceedings begin
May 2009, legal proceedings began, I had a Union Barrister, after several months the Union
Barrister left the Union and I was passed on to a solicitor. The frustration of constantly waiting
to hear news was so draining, luckily, I had my sport, this kept me pretty sane but I could feel
the enormous pressure it was having on me, it was 24/7. Money was getting extremely tight,
and now having to claim Employment Support Allowance, was getting very little help towards
my mortgage, the whole process took ages to go through, it was stress all the time.
My Union solicitor eventually made contact with me requesting to have a meeting, my friend
Gary come with me. We arrived at the solicitor office. Having gone through several issues
surrounding my case, my solicitor seemed extremely negative towards my case, his final
words he did say to me: “You won’t win” and you probably need to go for mediation and see if
the other side settles. Ohhh the frustration at this point! Gary and I could not believe what he
had just said, we left the office and headed straight back home.
As soon as I reached home, I had the urgency to train in my home gym. What the solicitor
said, was going over and over in my head, they are supposed to be helping, surely! This took
time to digest. The following day I received an email from my Powerlifting Federation
indicating that I had qualified to represent Great Britain this coming October. This was going
to be my first international event, what a privilege this was. I literally cried upon reading it,
thinking, I couldn’t possibly be able to go with all what was going on. Alternatively, I needed to
open up and tell my parents what was really going on, when I told My Mum, she replied: “You
are going to compete, me and your father are going to fund you, it will take your mind of the
case, otherwise you’ll have a breakdown”.
October 2009, I was now back from Belgium. Even though I done well, my mind was so
clouded with the case, virtually, living and breathing it. I now started to act as my own
detective. Reading through some of the statements the chairman gave to me at the grievance
appeals hearing, the witness statements just didn’t ring true. Unbeknown to the witnesses, I
had a tape recording from the disciplinary hearing. Jack’s girlfriend, Bonnie, was a legal
secretary for her mother’s law firm, I approached Bonnie and asked her if she would kindly
make me a transcript of the recording. It would be easier for the witnesses to read what was
said, just in case they did not want to listen to the recording.
Sadly, I started to distrust my union solicitor especially after he told me: “I won’t win”; so I
went to visit one of the witnesses (the union solicitors had stated to me, it would be alright to
speak to them). This was essential for me to ask them if they had written these statements
themselves. Over eight months I waited to see the witnesses, from the time I received the
statements, now the case was going to court. They would have looked fools at the
Employment Tribunal Hearing. Consequently, they needed to listen to the tape-recording or
read the transcript, as it was clearly heard on the tape that all of these statements were
contradicting the recording. One witness I visited was very anxious when she saw me,
however, she invited me into her home and made me a coffee; we spoke a little but she
refused to listen/read the recording or even look at her statement. As I left my co-workers
home, she turned and looked at me and said: “You won’t win”. She stood there staring at me,
in her next breath she said: “We got told to say that”; I could not believe this, it was exactly
the same words as the solicitor had said to me. The pure frustration! I felt completely isolated.
Obviously, this ex-colleague has been subjugated by management.
Chapter 06: False accusations and delays
November 2009, a couple of days after visiting my ex colleague, I received a letter from my
union solicitors. The Respondents representative Croner Consulting had stated: “Your client’s
case could be struck off due to intimidating our client’s employees, family members and
former employees. We have asked our client to gather appropriate evidence from all
concerned, including transcript of abusive text messages and facebook posts your client has
sent to all witnesses”. I spoke to my solicitor regarding this matter and made it clear, all the
accusations were false but felt he did not believe me. I was not even on facebook! In the
meantime, the family feud was still ongoing on, and during that time, the manager sent her
own mother abusive text messages; the managers’ brother made a statement verifying this to
the court. I requested my solicitor to get the evidence to back up their accusations but he
never did.
My Case was scheduled for 3 – 5 December 2009, I felt whatever I said to defend myself my
solicitor did not believe me. A couple of days before the court date, I received an email from
my solicitor, stating my case was cancelled due to the main respondent Beverley Young
being away. In fact Mrs. Young’s husband booked a holiday, therefore she is unavailable from
3 -5 December. Subsequently, I asked my solicitor to request evidence of this holiday, and
again, he never did. Even after producing two witness statements from the manager’s brother
and his wife, showing evidence that the manager and her husband were still at their home
address during the 3 – 5 December. Furthermore, I became very withdrawn from family and
friends, I felt so depressed, very frustrated, totally isolated, I had a terrible Christmas.
January 2010, Christmas had passed and I was glad. It wasn’t until the middle of January
when I received a letter from my solicitor indicating my case had been struck out! He stated:
“The tribunal Judge maintains that the tribunal did not receive our opposition letter.
Accordingly, we have applied for a review and the review Hearing will take place on Friday
12th March 2010. We will represent you at the Review Hearing as your case has been
wrongly struck out”. My solicitor never informed me of my case getting struck out until 6
weeks later. He said, he did not want to spoil my Christmas but I was ready to have a nervous
breakdown! Literally! I was beginning to wonder, does anybody care? My sons’ were
beginning to feel the pressure. This company were doing their utmost to crush me, I couldn’t
possibly let this happen, I was a fighter! I have not done anything wrong.
A family member of a lady I once cared for, believed their mother was bullied. Mrs. Beasley’s
daughter wrote a letter to the Care Quality Commission, it part reads: “My mother was a
resident at Gough House residential home from 1990 to February 2010 when she was taken
ill with a chest and water infection, she was hospitalised and with antibiotics she began to
make a good recovery. The physio was pleased with her progress as the infections had made
her weak and unsteady on her legs, then on our usual visit to her, my brother and I found her
distraught. The general manager and the administrator, both employees of Abbeycare, had
been to see her out of visiting hours and told her she could not go back to Gough House; this
caused her such worry and stress that she had a massive fit and was never the same again.
She was 99 at this point, four months from her 100th birthday, she had lived at the home for
19 years, and had been very happy. Then in 2007, this once friendly, homely, loving and
caring home was about to turn into something resembling Nazi Germany when Beverley
Young became manager, she and Pauline Harvey became as thick as thieves”. This was
wrong, it poured fuel on the fire! Mrs. Beasley’s family moved their mother to another home,
this was a very distressing time for them. It was nice that I could visit Mrs. Beasley to watch
her celebrate her 100th birthday, she was really pleased to see me. It wasn’t long after, the
family informed me that their mother had sadly passed away.
My friend Gary suggested I go to see a friend of his, a retired Employment Relations
Consultant named John Heenan. Gary and I went to visit John, I explained to John about my
case and he replied: “I’ll be completely honest with you, I shall look through your case, and let
you know if it’s worth pursuing”. Having so many people letting me down in the past, it’s
almost like, you start to disbelief yourself. John called me later that week on the telephone, to
let me know, I had a very good case! We arranged our first meeting the following day, this
was up his local pub, the “Windsor”, John liked a drink and we called this place our office.
Now I was practically living off my Credit cards. My mortgage company had been reasonably
helpful, they reduced my payments for a short period of time; nevertheless, I needed to
update them on a regular basis, I was just so grateful. Unexpectedly, I received an email from
the Great Britain Powerlifting Federation they invited me to compete at the World
Championships in America, my Federation had no idea what I was going through and how the
sport was keeping me going, however, this was mentally draining. My doctor became very
concerned about me, he wanted me to take antidepressants but I insisted my sport was my
medication, even though, I was experiencing constant headaches, sleeplessness, and
anxiety. My doctor has been my family doctor for the past 30 years, he said: “Never in your
entire life, have you ever had depression issues.”.
Chapter 07: The Employment Tribunal Review Hearing
It was now the day of the Employment Tribunal Review Hearing. My friend Robert and Mrs
Rigby came to support. Dr Rigby and Mrs. Rigby believe they were bullied out of Gough
House. Everyone was so shocked, what had happened to the Rigby’s. They were elderly, like
the residents. The Rigby’s had been going to Gough House for the past 13 years conducting
the weekly prayers for the residents. Mrs. Rigby was accused of all sorts of false allegations
by the manager, again well supported by the company. On several occasions Dr Rigby and
Mrs. Rigby were stopped from visiting the home. One particular time at Christmas, they were
going to visit Mrs. Beasley and other residents to deliver Christmas presents, they were told
by the manager, they were not allowed in the home, why?! The Rigby’s were allowed in the
other two care homes belonging to the company. Mrs. Rigby’s family were outraged, they
complained to the company. Mrs. Rigby feels her health has suffered and has never felt the
same since.
The company brought along their general manager, and two of the ex co-workers to the
Employment Tribunal Review Hearing. Again, this was so terrifying, being the first to take the
stand, oh I could feel myself burning and shaking with fear. The Judge did ask me several
questions and then I told him I went to visit the co-workers because their statements did not
ring true, and I believed they had been subjugated by the company. Next to take stand was
the ex-colleagues. The Judge asked both of them the same question: “What was it like
working with Jennifer?” They both replied: “really good”! The general manager didn’t look too
happy! (she had previously stated in a telephone conversation to my Union Official nobody
likes working with me and I was aggressive). Judge Toomer requested this review to be
reinstated to a full Employment Tribunal Hearing, date to be set. The Judge also indicated
that I could use my tape recording to rely upon evidence at the full hearing, however I needed
to produce a copy to the respondents representative. Judge Toomer’s reasons reads: “I think
it more likely than not that the claimant set out intending to persuade and not to intimate”.
After the hearing, the respondents representative spoke with my union solicitor, they made an
offer to me to drop the case for the amount of £862.40, instinctively, I felt the union solicitor
wanted this. Despite having my case reinstated, I was still ordered to pay Preparation Time
Order costs of £862.40 to the respondents due to the judge not receiving my defending letter
from my union solicitor within the deadline… The absurd thing was, the crux of this PTO was
due to the respondents themselves, accusing me of false allegations ie: sending the
witnesses abusive text messages, abusive facebook posts when none existed.
Chapter 08: Needing an escape
My doctor, my counsellor, and my family insisted I go away for my competition. Seriously, I
needed to escape. Having gone to America, I knew the case was coming too. Eventually I
spoke to some of my fellow lifters, what I was experiencing. They expanded across many
professions, Doctor of medicine, Paramedic, Nurse, one was a former probation officer who
was a very good listener but they were all compassionate.
April 2010, whilst in America, I felt the power in my performance was declining, my mind was
not functioning properly, so consumed with my case. Only having been back a couple of
weeks, when I received a letter from my solicitor indicating, they were pulling out from my
case! They stated my case had 50% less chance of winning. This was all I needed, at the
eleventh hour. The next day I meet John up our office. John was a brilliant man, in all his
career as an Employment Relations Consultant, he never lost a case. He could see how
passionate I was in getting justice, not just for myself but for many, many others. He was
never judgmental towards me, he once said, I reminded him of himself.
My son Jack was worried about Carlin and I, he felt very much in charge, even though he was
now living with his girlfriend, nevertheless, Jack would always come back to the house on a
regular basis to check we were ok. Jack and his girlfriend were expecting their first child in a
few months. Our biggest worry financially was the mortgage, Carlin contributed sometimes,
and with all other bills. My sons’ were never judgmental towards anything I did, they could see
this company were trying to grind me down in every possible way, thinking, I was just going to
go away; I could not let them crush us, even though it was breaking me, this was
psychological violence!
(Psychological Violence was a term of word Dr Gary Namie & Dr Ruth Namie referred to in
their book “The Bully Free WorkPlace – Stop Jerks, weasels and Snakes, Killing your
organization.”)
I have purchased this book. What a great book!
Chapter 09: Taking things into my own hands
May 2010, consequently, now due to the union solicitors not representing me, I needed to
make the most terrifying decision of my life, to represent myself, at the forthcoming
Employment Tribunal Hearing. This decision was purely my own. John wasn’t surprised,
however, he knew if I lost, I would lose everything. He said I was brave but could clearly see
my case was strong. He had great faith in me, however, he did recommend that I go and see
someone from the Citizens Advice Bureau, to see if I was entitled to some sort of legal aid; I
took John’s advice and made an appointment to see an employment caseworker. The
caseworker requested that I send him the entire correspondence related to my case, then he
said, he would need some time to look through my documents. In the meantime, I emailed the
regional manager of the union to complain about the union solicitors. Why did I have to pay
the £862.40? Due to the union solicitors missing the deadline with relevant paperwork, which
led to the case being struck out.
June 2010, I requested a meeting with the Union regarding the Union solicitors. The Union
arranged a meeting with myself, the Union solicitor, and my Union Representative, Gary
came along to support me. The outcome of this meeting was negative, again I felt they did not
listen to me. The opposition letter that had been sent in defense of myself from the Union
Solicitors was never received by the Judge. This led me to complain to the Legal
Ombudsman regarding the Union Solicitors.
In the meantime, I received a letter back from the CAB and would pray it wasn’t bad news!
Slowly, slowly I was losing my house, even so, I was doing my utmost to fend off my
mortgage company. Upon reading through the Citizens Advice Bureau letter, I literally, just
sat down on the stairs holding my head in my hands, really wishing this would go away. The
caseworker concluded the same as my union solicitors, the caseworker added in his letter: “If
you do decide to drop this, we can help negotiate with the Respondents. If you do decide to
continue, I am sorry but we will unfortunately, be unable to assist you further”. The next day I
met John up our office, John was so puzzled, he looked at me and said: “All these people
letting you down and you’re still fighting on.
Chapter 10: Still fighting
July 2010. Getting through each and every day was a struggle, everything was an effort
including simple tasks like dressing and eating properly. It was now the day for me to go to
the Benefits Tribunal Hearing regarding my appeal against my Employment Support
Allowance, my friend Dawn came with me for support. This was going to be another
frightening experience. Initially, I was assessed by a nurse (this is standard practice) to claim
for ESA. Previously, the nurse did not believe I was stressed enough to claim the required
points to be eligible to claim ESA, even after showing the nurse my hair loss due to the stress
I was under. With all my evidence from my doctor, counselling sessions and the mental health
resource centre I visited weekly for therapy, the Judge and the doctor on the panel granted
ESA without hesitation. My friend Dawn was a great support, always there for me, never
judgmental in anything I did or was going to do. When you feel in such a depressed stressed
state, the last thing you want to hear is criticism.
A terrible blow came when my son Jack had been arrested by the police. Oh I could not
believe this! His baby was due soon. My mind had been so clouded with my case, totally
unaware what was going on around me. Jack was offered a lot of money to persuade a
witness to change his statement for a case belonging to a group of offenders who were
already in prison: Jack was contacted by them from the inside. Jack was 24 years old at the
time, his first ever offence. Jack was a good sportsman with very good work ethics.
August 2010. Officially from this month, I was now acting as my own solicitor, in charge of all
my own correspondence back and forth from the Employment Tribunal via the respondents
representative. Every letter, every email I received, my heart was in my mouth with sheer
fright. John and I were meeting more at the office, preparing for my case. Occasionally, I
would hint to John if he could represent me at the Employment Tribunal but John had ill
health, he was not medically fit, so was unable to come with me. I totally respected this. I was
just so grateful for his guidance, help and support.
Chapter 11: Facing fierce opposition
September 2010. My opposition representative was Croner Consulting Wolters Kluwer
Business UK. I heard they were fierce. On their website it states: “We win 85% of cases taken
to industrial Tribunals” (is this why my union solicitors pulled out at the eleventh hour?).
(Lord Sugar used this company to defend himself against a former apprentice from his
TV programme)
Mr. Ball the opposition representative emailed me regarding the copy of the tape recording
made during the disciplinary hearing. Due to the changeover of representing myself, I never
did receive Mr. Ball’s letter, my union solicitors should have forwarded this very important
letter on to me but never did. Mr. Ball states: “Our client believes that the transcript is not only
wildly inaccurate but also purports to have been made by a firm of solicitors, Bonnie Britton is
the partner of your son Jack and to our client’s knowledge, is not an employee of Britton and
co solicitors, a firm run by Bonnie Britton’s Mother, Cathryn. We hardly need to remind you of
the consequences if it transpires that the transcript you have provided is either not a true
record of the tape, or is a forgery. We have tried to get a suitable tape recorder to listen to the
recording however, to no avail. We shall have to order a machine from Germany to suit”.
Oh here we go again, excuses, excuses. First and foremost, Bonnie Britton is the executive
legal secretary for her mother’s business, secondly, the tape recording is as true as it comes!
Thirdly, you can buy a standard machine to record this on anywhere in the UK. Bonnie kindly
made the transcript for me, at this particular time I started to distrust my Union solicitor, which
I believe was completely understandable. Moreover, I was waiting for Mr. Ball to email me the
respondents grievance appeal notes/minutes which I requested several weeks ago, my union
solicitors should have initially requested these documents: These documents were vital, so I
could increase the bundle. The next email via the tribunal from Mr. Ball states: “With the
exception of the Respondents grievance appeal notes, which our client appears to have lost”.
Through all of this my mental health was deteriorating, most nights I would get very little
sleep. In the evenings Carlin used to see me at the kitchen table heavily surrounded by
paperwork, just before he went to bed, then again first thing in the morning, I would still be
there. Carlin said: “It looks as though you’ve been there all night”. My friend Dawn came to
my house to paint the bedrooms for me, just to help, Dawn thought brightening up the rooms
would help me feel better in some way. She could see the unremitting stress, and the
depressed state I was experiencing, despite being very frustrated and so angry. This was
relentless, so desperately needed to confide in Dawn and offload my deep thoughts,
I seriously wanted to express the pain I was feeling inside. This was psychological violence, it
had reached such a level, I felt I could off literally shot the people causing this terrible pain in
my life. Obviously, feeling in such a bad way for such a prolonged, dragged out, endless time,
your negative thoughts start to take over. My counsellor and I both suggested this would be a
good idea to write down all my thoughts. Dawn was calmly reminding me how far I had come
with my case. In the early hours of some mornings, I would go out for walks when no one was
about, just to try and clear my head.
More colleagues started to confide in me from one of the other care homes, belonging to the
company, claiming too, to have been bullied by the management. One particular colleague,
that I have worked alongside, stated in a letter that was sent to the company chairman, she
confirmed she had resigned because of the style of management of Pauline Harvey, the
General Manager, which in her words involved: “…bullying, intimidation, victimisation, and
character assassination”. My ex colleague had worked for the company for over 20 Years.
Isobel was not far from her retirement. It was not long after her resignation my ex colleague
sadly passed away. This upset me terribly.
Chapter 12: Building our case
November 2010. It was now getting closer to the hearing. Mr. Ball did everything in his power
to stop me adding extra material, obviously, under the instructions of the respondents. On
several occasions he would try and stop me increasing our bundle. Mr. Ball suggested to
have an additional bundle as well as our joint bundle, the tribunal agreed. I believe he was
probably hoping the panel Judges would not have the time to view my extra bundle. These
documents were very important! These included my history of events.
It was now two weeks before the hearing and time for both parties to exchange witness
statements. It was no surprise to me that all of the respondents statements were riddled with
lies. Upon reading the chairman’s statement, it reads: “I can recall what was discussed fairly
clearly”. In paragraph (15) of his statement reads: “She explained that there was a PLOT
against her, led by Beverley Young”. On the same paragraph it reads: “I could not understand
how it was an example of a PLOT”, again on the same paragraph reads: “In on the PLOT”,
furthermore, on paragraph (16) reads: “Any PLOT would have required some acquiescence
from all concerned”, and paragraph (22) reads: “There was some kind of PLOT”.
Now I remember, still having my recording of the grievance appeals hearing, so with that, I
searched online for a company who makes transcripts from recordings, it cost me £125.
Nevertheless, this was worth every penny! luckily, I did not have to pay straight away either,
they sent me an invoice later; which was even better, by this time I was well out of pocket. In
a few days I received the transcript. First and foremost, I would never use the term of word
plot. Secondly, it was never mentioned throughout the grievance appeals hearing. Thirdly, I
clearly had the evidence to prove this! This made me feel angry, these people were caring for
the elderly – this was frightening! I believe there is no way this would of ever got this far,
unless there was something to hide.
Chapter 13: The Tribunal Hearing Pt 1
24th November 2010. First day of the Tribunal Hearing. Feeling the heat from my entire body
burning like a fire, my heart was racing, my hands were trembling. So fixated on searching
through my paperwork, making sure I had absolutely everything I needed. On the way to
court I met Mrs. Rigby, Dawn, my sister Joan come from quite far away and a friend Christine,
many others came to support.
We arrived at the courts, the tension was immense. My friend Dawn was taking good care of
me, making sure I was eating and drinking properly. It was now time to enter the courtroom, I
placed my cassette recorder system down on my table and all my correspondence that John
had kindly filed in chronological order for me. Sitting alone, I needed to show the other side, I
can fight you, there was so much pain inside of me. Some of my friends told me later, “You
should’ve seen the respondent’s faces and their representative when they clamped eyes on
your recorder system.” This whole ordeal was terrifying, however, confident knowing, I have
told the truth and nothing but the truth. They were three panel Judges, I was first to stand, the
onus was on me to prove that the respondents have bullied me out of the workplace. All three
panel judges questioned me one by one, my body was non-stop trembling; it was so
distressing. The questions came thick and fast. It was now Mr. Ball’s turn to question me: “So
Miss Nicoll you’re a bodybuilder, you do this for a hobby?”, I replied: “No sir, I represent my
country for my sport”. The Judge asked: ”What sport do you do Miss Nicoll?, I replied: “ I am a
Powerlifter sir”.
I believe that the respondents were trying to portray me as some sort of steroid bodybuilder, I
was a member of a very well respected Worldwide Federation. Mr. Ball states his next
question: “Miss Nicoll why are you not on medication as you are stating you’ve been so
stressed and depressed due to the workplace”. I simply replied, ”My sport is my medication
sir”. Mr. Ball did not have many avenues to go down, he rambled on with his arguments. All
my answers to his questions were the truth, even so, it was a very distressing time.
Now it was time for the company’s general manager to take stand. I was now in reverse roles
of acting as solicitor. I could not believe that I was about to question one of my perpetrators, it
seemed so very strange, so surreal, however this time around they had no choice but to
listen. I focused on the lies to catch them red-handed, it was terribly embarrassing, no wonder
the Judge was chewing his pen a lot, he seemed totally baffled! Next on the stand was my
first witness Robert who supported me at the disciplinary hearing, the Judge found Robert to
be a reliable witness. After Robert came Frank, my Union representative, the panel, Judges
found Frank to be a credible witness. So very grateful for their support. The only witness who
did not appear in person was my managers brother but he did write a statement to verify, that
there was a family feud, nevertheless, I believe he should of done the moral thing and
appeared in court, nor did his wife (my sister) come to support me.
We ended the day with the Judge indicating to Mr. Ball and myself to prepare our
Submissions for the following day. On the way back home, Dawn and I discussed the
submission, presenting this to the court was essential. Obviously, could not expect John to
remember everything, and
I was no expert in this field. It was impossible for me to prepare my submission and scrutinize
the manager and the chairman’s statements. Dawn suggested that she would start typing the
submission for me, which was a relief, however, we needed to communicate quite often so I
could dictate to her over my events. Dawn was a great help! I could not of possibly done this,
what with having to go through the statements, my mind was all over the place.
Chapter 14: The Tribunal Hearing Pt 2
25th November 2010. Today was probably going to be the worst day for me, regarding
questioning my perpetrators, however, on the other hand, I could not wait to humiliate them in
a court of law. We arrived early at the court, my head was solid with thoughts, I hadn’t slept a
wink all night. Dawn kept me reading the submission out loudly in front of everyone that came
to support me, again and again she kept me reading. By now, I was very tired but Dawn
insisted I keep reading it. So grateful to her for encouraging me, even though I was
exhausted. As we were waiting to go into the courtroom, you could hear the respondents in
the next room to us, all laughing out very loudly, this made me feel even more determined. It
was now time to enter the courtroom, the court usher called us all in. That moment again, I
placed my cassette recorder down on my table along with all my documents. The chairman of
the company was now about to be questioned by myself and the panel Judges. The sheer
disgust on his face as though he was saying to himself I shouldn’t be here, I’ve done nothing
wrong, how dare she put me in this position.
The main question I was most confident to ask the chairman, just, how clearly he
remembered the grievance appeals hearing, as I wanted to make him clear, how was the
word PLOT used. When I put the question to him, he was speechless, looking straight at his
representative and couldn’t answer. The Judge asked the chairman: “Where has Miss Nicoll
said PLOT” with that everyone was searching through the transcript of the recording. The
Judge then asked the chairman: “Who done your statement”? The representative went very
quiet, however, he had no choice but to answer to the Judge, replying: “We both done the
statement together sir”. The Judge looked in disbelief.
Next on the stand was my manager Beverley Young. Again this seemed so surreal. This was
terribly distressing. The pure smugness, the arrogance, the brazenness made me sick inside.
The pain this person has caused me was unbelievable, and she was sat right opposite me
with a smug face, like she has done nothing wrong. The panel Judges were now seriously
questioning her – ohhh the lies! It was absolutely shocking! You could hear her trying to riddle
her way out of anything that was put forward to her. It was now my turn to question. The first
question I put forward: “Do you think you’re a good manager?”. She replied: “Yes” with the
smirk look, the body language was just so disrespectful to myself and the panel. My next
question: “In what year did you start working as a Manager at Gough House?” She replied:
“2006”. In her statement in which we all had in view, this was more lies. At this point I broke
down, the Judge could clearly see this, and he suggested I have a break but I refused, I
needed to get this over with so I continued, it was very hard though. One question the Judge
did ask the manager, I did not hear properly at the time but the manager looked at me and
started mumbling words, which I did not understand but it sounded as though she wanted to
argue with me in the court room! At all times she has been a faceless coward other than the
disciplinary hearing and now in the courtroom as she was surrounded by people.
It was now time for the panel to hear Mr. Ball and I read our closing submissions. To stand up
in front of the entire courtroom to read out loudly. Thank god! Dawn made me rehearse, never
in my entire life, have I ever, spoke out loudly in front of an audience. I became very tearful,
this was difficult to control but I did it, so glad it was over! We all went and waited back in our
rooms for the final outcome. Could not stop pacing up and down the room, my head was so
painful, the anxiety! A couple of hours had passed, when the usher called us all back in the
courtroom. Judge Simpson reads: “We find in favour a unanimous decision that Miss Nicoll
was constructively dismissed”. The respondents were ordered to pay me £1,572.50, however,
I was ordered to pay the respondents a Preparation Time Order of £862.40 regarding my
case struck out in December 2009, this was reduced to £250.
Everyone was so pleased for me and told me that I had done really well. All I wanted to do is
telephone John and tell him I WON! I walked up to the Judge and shook his hand, he kindly
said: “You can move on now”. They seriously believed that they were going to win. On three
different occasions during the hearing, the Judge implied to Mr. Ball to confide in the
respondents to settle. Half way through the first day of the hearing the respondents
representative and I spoke privately regarding my history of events. He stated to me that the
respondents want to offer me my job back in one of the other care homes within the
company… this was ludicrous.
Chapter 15: Taking Civil Action
Following my success at the tribunal hearing, I could not settle knowing that this company
were still in a position of trust. They were just allowed to carry on as though nothing has
happened. This was not justice! I have just had 26 months of my life totally destroyed! My
family torn apart, my health declining, suicidal thoughts, financially broke, on the verge of
losing my home, my character assassinated and my name tarnished! So many other people’s
lives have been destroyed too. I am now just going to briefly relay some events below, as this
has had and is still having a detrimental effect on me.
Subsequently, I went ahead to seek civil action against this company for bullying and
harassment. I made an appointment with a solicitor called Richard Charles, he was highly
recommended to me. Arriving at the solicitor’s office, this was an extremely emotional time
relaying to him what had happened to me. He asked if the company had paid my
compensation from the tribunal hearing, I told the solicitor it was now some days overdue,
with that, he called the company in front of me and told them to send me the money they
owed. At that precise moment, a wave of warmth came over, I could not believe! I felt that this
solicitor was actually listening to me, it was quite overwhelming.
My Civil case was now in process. The company were now aware and needed to notify their
insurance company of my claim. Apparently, their general manager did not put the claim in to
their insurance company within the deadline.
Sadly, I was unable to compete in my sport anymore. My doctor advised me strongly to take
medication, I did for a while, at this stage, I was barely sleeping and virtually dragging myself
to the gym. However, I was forever going through my paperwork and all the statements that
were produced at court; I was still very much living and breathing it. The constant criticism
from people who I thought I could trust wore me down but I had some good people around
me. My house had gone heavily into arrears. My parents insisted they get a loan out for me, I
was very grateful, they supported me so well but they knew I could not let this go. Carlin was
helping so much, however, he was utilising all of his anger into his competitions. Carlin
competed in three Major competitions National and International. Firstly the British
Universities in Oxford, Secondly, the British Powerlifting Championships and Thirdly, the
Commonwealth Powerlifting Championships, coming first place in all three, I was, so very
proud of him. Nevertheless, this began to take its toll on Carlin, he eventually stopped
competing. However, he was still training. Carlin says, his sport has been his saviour.
Chapter 16: Jack’s Sentence
It was now the start of the six week trial regarding my son Jack. Jack committed this terrible
crime solo on behalf of some people who were already in prison at the time awaiting trial.
Unfortunately, Jack’s case was now linked up with the six week trial with all these defendants,
this put Jack in a very bad light. Because of his guilty plea, Jack only needed to attend court
at the beginning and at the end of the trial. Furthermore, I managed to attend court a few
times throughout the trial and the final day. Jack was sentenced to eight years for false
imprisonment, this was very harsh, considering his first offence. It was a sad day for all,
nevertheless, having always believed and knew deep down, this would never of happened,
had I not been bullied out of my workplace.
The following couple of days I received a phone call from my solicitor, he had received an
email from the other side’s solicitor indicating Jack’s sentencing. Jack was being portrayed as
though he was in some sort of gang and all my stress and depression was only because of
Jack. The only person who would have known this, was the manager, because Jack and I
have different surnames and the rest of the company wouldn’t of known this. They were
clutching at straws.
Jack was actually moved to a lower category prison, I always tried to visit as often as I could.
He was doing so well with education, starting a six year part – time Maths degree. The last
12 months of his sentence he was working at the Agricultural University, the president of this
University is Prince Charles. He was a well-respected prisoner listener and had done various
Samaritan training courses. He was a stand by listener for ex MP Chris Huhne. Each time I
visited Jack, he would listen to me regarding my case, for the entire visiting session, just to
help me. It was evident to him, the detrimental and draining impact my case was having on
me.
Chapter 17: Liability, Resignation and losing a friend
The defendants confirmed in July 2011 that liability is admitted, however, the defendants
maintain the appalling treatment I was subjected too did not cause my depression, so the
obligation remains firmly on me to prove that it was probable that their actions caused the
depression. The defendants requested and insisted access to view my full medical records,
they believed it was more than likely that I have seen my doctor about depression before.
Gladly, I did not have a problem with their legal team viewing my medical records, and if
appropriate pass on any relevant issues to the defendants, the defendants failed to agree.
This company were incompetent and irresponsible. Previously, my Civil solicitor Richard
Charles requested my personnel file from the company via their solicitor, yes, they did send
my legal team my personnel file; along with someone elses. Regarding my dispute, I was
adamant this went to court. My Barrister, my solicitor and myself attended. My Barrister,
Timothy Grice presented my reasons to the Judge for my argument. My dispute was
successful. Again, this was very distressing.
It was essential for me to be examined by two expert consultant Psychiatrists, one for the
defendants side and one for my side, to verify that the defendants were the causation of my
depression. I felt quite safe talking with both psychiatrists, they listened, even though it was
deeply distressing having to relay my story.
November 2012: The general manager of Abbeycare Homes Pauline Harvey telephoned my
solicitor and stated that, she had resigned from the company. Furthermore, she stated there
is fraud going on within the company.
A note for my friend John Heenan
It is with great sadness my friend John passed away, a few months before I was due to attend
court. His legacy shall live on with me, I shall make sure of that! What a great honour to have
met such a true honest gentleman, “he believed in me” and helped me so much. God Bless
you John.
Chapter 18: Settling out of Court
They were nine witnesses prepared for court, however, I needed to subpoena the managers
brother, he did not make a statement for me, I had no choice; he was a vital witness.
April 2013. At the solicitor’s office, my solicitor Nia Charles, my Barrister Tim Grice and myself
spent 9 hours negotiating a settlement. Finally, I was awarded £170,000 out of court
settlement. The breakdown of this sum included my legal costs, which were £60,000, £30,000
went back to the Department of Work & Pensions as I was claiming Employment Support
Allowance. Furthermore, I paid back all the debts I had accumulated, on top of that I needed
to pay back everyone that helped me throughout my hard and darkest years. Moreover, I
could not comprehend, that this company had just been let off without any form of justice.
Money is not justice. No one is being held account for their irresponsible actions, this is
unacceptable! I have gone through living hell for an extreme length of time, to me personally,
it would feel like this was all for nothing, if I were to let go!
Chapter 19: The fight goes on
Over six years on, and, still fighting for justice. In due course, I received £500 (a goodwill
gesture) from the Union solicitor, they never did admit liability. The first time I contacted the
Local Authority was back in 2011, having spoken to a safeguarding adults manager, I told him
that there is bullying going on and the residents are at risk, he told me to send him any
documentary evidence: I sent the documents to him special delivery. Apparently, this
safeguarding adults manager had left his job, I did not know this until I requested a meeting
with the local Authority in June 2013, nevertheless, all the information should have been
passed on. In a telephone conversation with the CQC, it was essential for me to find out if
Beverley Young was registered fit or not, the CQC confirmed in an email, that this manager
was registered fit in January 2012; this was 5 years after being employed by the company.
Having now contacted the Care Quality Commission, Charity Fraud Line, My Local Authority,
and the Police to no avail. Currently, I am in contact with my Local MP John Penrose, the
saga goes on…