Aunt’s corner

Dear Aunt Silvia, I am a young girl working in an international organisation forover five years now. I have been experiencing some kind of harassment at work place and I don’t know how to deal with it. I am experiencing this harassment both from my boss and colleagues yet I have not been told what I have done to deserve this kind of rejection. Please, help me.

Saturday, February 12, 2011

Dear Aunt Silvia, 
I am a young girl working in an international organisation forover five years now.

I have been experiencing some kind of harassment at work place and I don’t know how to deal with it.

I am experiencing this harassment both from my boss and colleagues yet I have not been told what I have done to deserve this kind of rejection. Please, help me.

Dear Shadia, 

First of all you must demand an explanation on this hostility you are undergoing from your bosses and colleagues. Let them tell you what sin you have committed to deserve this punishment so that you know.

Sometimes a person can do wrong things without their intention and end up being victimised. Also understand what constitutes a hostile work environment.

You may have a workplace harassment case if you feel uncomfortable at work because others make unwanted comments or take unwanted actions based on your legally protected characteristics, such as age, race, religion, gender, sexual orientation and disability.

You should also know that you can be the victim of workplace harassment even if you are not the perpetrator’s intended target. If you overhear harassing comments or witness harassing behaviour that you find offensive, you may have a legitimate workplace harassment claim.

This kind of behaviour is uncalled for and I don’t understand why your boss cannot call you to tell you about your wrong doings or even worse to sack you if he/she feels the problem is too big to be solved, instead of them harassing and ridiculing you at your work place.You might be fighting a big war here.

You might be experiencing this kind of rejection because of something in the offing if at all you claim not to have done anything wrong. Sometimes some people experience this kind of harassment if they were brought to the company by some influential people, or if they are related to the owners of the company, or worse still if they are suspected to have an illicit affair with the owner of the company.

I don’t know where you fit in these, but I suggest that you either take the matter to the owner of the company or seek legal redress to solve this issue once and for all. 

Ends