2nd Draft:
An unfortunate work-related incident with a member of the TSS team
NB.. Please refer to additional notes on final page / after the main body of text.
Friday 4th October 2019...
After a lengthy meeting with my team leader Marie-Josiane Agossou, early afternoon (13:30 – 14:45), myself and the majority of the technical team started prepping the studios, kit room and edit suites for Saturdays’ (05.10.19) LSBU open day.
By the time we were ready to leave work the small team, who had planned a quick drink, had expanded to the whole team (minus Damien who doesn’t drink / like bars). Marie joined us a bit later when I texted her our location.
With two local pubs (Duke of York, The Libertine) deemed too busy to drink in, as a group, we wondered off towards Borough and found a table in the garden of The Ship (approx. 17:40) 68 Borough Road, SE1 1DX.
Illustration of seating arrangement below:
Conversation inevitably turned to work and a conversation about the flirtatious nature of an academic in a recent meeting towards another member of her team was discussed.
In response to this Stephanie recalled that at last Xmas’s staff party she had encountered the same individual flirting with her.
Whilst on the subject of this group of academics a couple of remarks were made about the sexuality of one of them who had recently divorced. This subject concluded and I started a conversation about working on a creative team project, that would involve all of us taking out film / video equipment and covering the protests in Westminster; it was decided that we would all do this on the following Saturday (12.10.19). The only person who did not want to be involved was Michael Healy (see notes below: 1); Stephanie had also volunteered to edit this.
After a couple of pints (approx.. 18:30) I said I was leaving as I had guests coming to stay at my home in Brixton. Matt insisted that I stay and said he would get me another drink. I asked for a half of lager and he returned with a pint. I jokingly called him a bastard (2).
Around this time Stephanie left saying that she had to leave to walk a neighbour’s dog (3).
With Stephanie gone I was sat next to Michael who had been the subject of a long conversation, earlier in the day, between myself and my team leader (4).
As Michael’s manager for a relatively short amount of time (5) I have tried to understand his motivations and guide him to the best of my abilities. I suggested that it would be a good for him to participate in the team project that was discussed earlier.
His response (approx. 18:40) was that he did not believe that universities should be places where politics should be discussed.
My response was that universities are exactly where these things should be discussed as places of enlightenment and learning (6). However, I said, this was nothing to do with university and just a project for us all to work on outside of work, together, for fun and a bonding exercise(7).
The subject changed and he started another topic regarding the earlier conversation about an academic’s sexuality; obviously trying to influence my opinion
MH: “I don’t think that it is appropriate for (insert name) to be discussing (an academics name’s) sexuality to other people at the university”. (8)
To this I responded: “that we were not in work and that people can say what they like, and that we live in a free society with free speech”.
He was obviously very annoyed in his inability to debate this further and I tried to calm the situation down as his whole-body language and tone of voice was becoming frustrated and argumentative (9). He changed tact and asked me “why do you always go along with what Tim does?”
me: “I don’t, I have my own mind... to be honest the things he says about being a councillor I find quite boring”.
I went on to say that I liked him as a person and invited him to shake my hand which he agreed to do. I also changed my tone to a calmer disposition and was very aware that the situation had become volatile (10). I told him calmly that he was like a child in my eyes, self-centred and selfish. I also told him that I had heard he was bad-mouthing everybody at work (I did not swear or raise my voice). To this he loomed over me, pointing and shouting.
MH: “why are you picking on me? ...Why are you being like this?” (11).
I leaned away from him, towering over me, and beckoned to the rest of the team to observe his behaviour.
me “Look at this, he’s being so aggressive, look at him....”.
Everyone stopped their conversations and looked over as I leaned away from his over-bearing body language.
As Michael was ranting, I bent down to retrieve my bag, to leave, he
exclaimed .. .. “And Tim... he just told me he thinks you are boring.” I stood up to leave a physically threatening situation and remarked to Tim Fransen ‘that’s not true’. I left without the opportunity to say goodbye to my other work colleagues and put it down to an immature member of my team having had a few drinks and getting carried away with his emotions. I believed it was just a flash-in-the-pan situation and would soon be forgotten.
This was not the case.
On Monday (07.10.19) morning, at work, I discovered that this individual had gone on a campaign against me, trying to rally the younger members of the team to his (disillusioned) interpretation of this event by texting them over the weekend. At this point I felt I had lost their trust and spoke with my team leader, stating that I would like to pursue this matter with HR; as a reaction to a physical threat from a disruptive member of the team. I was not sure if this was covered by work as it was away from LSBU and in our own time.
Notes...
1) This individual has previously not wanted to be involved in team creative projects when invited and I was not surprised at this.
2) This is a common trick by Matt Whale to keep you out drinking with him.
3) Stephanie walks this dog daily and gets paid for it.
4) Marie had said at great length about Michael’s appalling behaviour towards
her for the previous two years and how he had been bad mouthing
everybody in the team recently; no specific details of this were discussed.
5) I started at LSBU in Feb. 2019 along with other new team members: Matt
Whale and Tim Fransen; within the same month.
6) he previously expressed to me that he was not happy to share an office with
Tim ...’ because ‘he shouldn’t be discussing politics at work’.
7) It is quite possible that my tone was patronising and taking the higher
ground. I am an older and (probably) more mature individual. Michael is 32
and I am 47.
8) I identified this manipulative technique where he was trying to align himself
with me to turn me against Marie. I had previously only listened to this
discussion and not participated.
9) The day before (03.10.19) I had attended a course in Technopark about
emotional intelligence. I feel I can manage people with empathy and attended this non-compulsory course as part of my personal development; to find out about new research / methodologies in this area.
10)I was extremely annoyed at his behaviour at work and outside of it; recently he had taken unauthorised time off work to work for another company.
11)I had assumed that the rest of the team, seated around me, had heard this whole conversation and that my behaviour was correct for this situation and their ears. Michael had switched from his bullying tactic to a (self-aware) victim very quickly.
The above statement is all true. Signed...
Date: 14.10.19
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