01.07.2025

She said I was bullying her...60 seconds into interviewing her about her grievance.

She said I was bullying her...60 seconds intoโ€ฆ

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She said I was bullying her...60 seconds into interviewing her about her grievance.

The line manager looked at me and said,

โ€œThis is what weโ€™ve been dealing with.โ€

๐Ÿ“ The grievance file was thick.
โœ–๏ธ Past disciplinaries.
โœ–๏ธ A long absence.
โœ–๏ธ A history of complaints - none ever concluded.

And now, this.

I didn't jump to a defence.

Especially when the label of โ€œbullyingโ€ is used too lightly.

So I followed process.

Proper process.

HR Habitat process.

I had already reviewed every note, policy, and interaction.

I spoke to witnesses.

I led the grievance interviews - myself.

And I used the exact methods Iโ€™ve trained leaders to use:

โž Neutral tone
โž Open questions
โž No judgment
โž No assumptions

But in the first 60 seconds of our meeting, she accused me, a stranger, of bullying her.

Before I even started.

And suddenly, it all became clear.

This wasnโ€™t just a grievance.

This was a breakdown in trust.

Between her and the company.

Between her and the entire system.

And behind that breakdown was a trail of unmet needs, unmanaged expectations, and a serious fear of being unheard.

So, hereโ€™s what we did:

โ†ณ We didnโ€™t react - we listened
โ†ณ I noticed she wanted out so we lawfully and ethically moved the conversation into a mutual separation via settlement agreement
โ†ณ We preserved dignity on both sides

We supported the exit via settlement legally and ethically.

She began to trust me.

And even better -

It wasn't just a favourable outcome for both parties..

We saved the company from even more risks.

Our report showed wider issues they had never dealt with;

โ†ณ lack of accountability
โ†ณ underskilled management
โ†ณ tick-of-the-box performance review processes
โ†ณ lack of boundary-setting from day one

And here's another risk we prevented.

The employee was a woman.

But we didnโ€™t let that blind us with bias.

We didn't leave any room for potential unfairness or unfavorable treatment on grounds of sex.

I'll bet a similar experience or story comes to mind after reading this?

๐Ÿ‘‹๐Ÿฝ ๐—›๐—ถ, ๐—œโ€™๐—บ ๐—ง๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ฎ, ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ป๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐—›๐—ฅ ๐—›๐—ฎ๐—ฏ๐—ถ๐˜๐—ฎ๐˜.
๐—ช๐—ฒโ€™๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐—›๐—ฅ ๐—ต๐—ผ๐˜๐—น๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ฒ๐˜€, ๐˜๐—ผ๐—ผ.
๐—ช๐—ฒ ๐—ณ๐—ถ๐˜… ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—›๐—ฅ ๐—บ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ฒ๐—ณ๐—ถ๐—ฒ๐—น๐—ฑ๐˜€ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚ ๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐—ฑ๐—ปโ€™๐˜ ๐—ธ๐—ป๐—ผ๐˜„ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚ ๐˜„๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐—ด๐—ฒ๐˜๐˜๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐˜„๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ด.

๐— ๐˜† ๐—บ๐—ถ๐˜€๐˜€๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป ๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐˜๐—ผ ๐—ฒ๐—บ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐—ด๐—ฒ๐—ป๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐—ฒ๐—พ๐˜‚๐—ถ๐˜๐˜† ๐—ถ๐—ป๐˜๐—ผ ๐—ฒ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜†๐—ฑ๐—ฎ๐˜† ๐—น๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜€๐—ต๐—ถ๐—ฝ - ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ป ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐˜„๐—ผ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ป ๐—ฎ๐—น๐—ถ๐—ธ๐—ฒ.

๐Ÿ“… Book a consultation with me:
https://lnkd.in/eSXgRSX5

๐Ÿงญ Test your leadership style โ€“ are you a Labyrinth or a Leader?
https://lnkd.in/eguiG_pU

๐Ÿ“ฅ Join the waitlist for my People Pathway Blueprint โ€“ the plug & play tool for managing your staff from entry to exit without risk or turbulence:
https://lnkd.in/dSVjYQT2


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Founder of HR Habitat, award winner of "Best HR & Employment Law Consultancy, 2024" title. As featured in BBC Oline, BBC Asian Network Radio, Telegraph & more.ย 

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