I’ve been following this sub and the other one for a while, I’ve learned a lot but I’ve not asked for advice. My employer behaved very badly (I don’t really want to go into details incase anyone from my organisation happens to be here). I work in a public sector area and the small number of people who know the full story (including experienced union case workers) have described what happened as the worst case they’ve heard of. My employer broke employment and Equ A and breached their own policies and commitments, and rather than sorting the issues when I tried to find a way to resolve it, they just doubled-down and found a few more rules/policies/laws to break, all while creating a paper trail. There were multiple GDPR breaches, also documented. A number of senior people involved, too. The whole sequence of events was ongoing for about 18 months, with the last 6 months particularly bad.
I kept detailed notes and was able to afford a solicitor. Unfortunately, at the point my employer was made aware of this, they realised how bad the situation was for them, which made things worse for me. I contacted ACAS for EC, but by the point the conciliator got in touch it was too late (even the conciliator was audibly shocked when I described some of my employer’s actions).
I thought I was prepared to take the case all the way, but I didn’t. There was a particularly targeted ‘last straw’ moment, but I didn’t resign. My solicitor negotiated a settlement, but it meant I had to leave. I know financially it was a good offer - around 2 years’ salary in total (I’m reasonably senior). I guess I’m one of those people whose cases never see the light of day because the evidence means they’re settled at an early stage.
I feel I gave up too easily and I should have continued to fight. I’m so angry and also having PTSD-type flashbacks, nightmares, anxiety dreams, panic attacks. I’ve lost my professional identity and the future I thought I was going to have.
I guess I’m looking for some reassurance that I did the right thing in settling and trying to move on, and also that at some point the aftereffects will lessen. I keep thinking that this has all been a nightmare I’m going to wake up from. I don’t really know how I’m supposed to walk into a new workplace after this. Intellectually, I know it was the right decision, but I need to live with having let my employer away with how they behaved. I realise that this isn’t really the purpose of this sub, but it seems like the people here are well-placed to understand.
I delete all my posts and comments, so won’t leave this post up for very long, but would appreciate any insight people have.