Been accused of harassment out of the blue. Where to turn?

batman1

I am a mature student in a college with a class of about 20.

Today I received a letter stating that several allegations of harassment have been made against me (and 3 others) and I have a meeting tomorrow at 3 with the head of the college.

This is completely out of the blue and is definitely unfounded and unwarranted. I have never harassed anyone in my life, let alone at college. I am in my final year with the same group? There is a definitive 'division' in the group, but that is purely social and I have never heard a bad word said about anyone in the class.

What on earth do I do? I have never been in such a position before but I know I have nothing to worry about as I have not done anything wrong, but how do I go about proving it? Do I need a solicitor? OMG, can't afford that, I'm only a student again.

ssbob

batman1 wrote: »

I am a mature student in a college with a class of about 20.

Today I received a letter stating that several allegations of harassment have been made against me (and 3 others) and I have a meeting tomorrow at 3 with the head of the college.

This is completely out of the blue and is definitely unfounded and unwarranted. I have never harassed anyone in my life, let alone at college. I am in my final year with the same group? There is a definitive 'division' in the group, but that is purely social and I have never heard a bad word said about anyone in the class.

What on earth do I do? I have never been in such a position before but I know I have nothing to worry about as I have not done anything wrong, but how do I go about proving it? Do I need a solicitor? OMG, can't afford that, I'm only a student again.

I would go this meeting but possibly take a witness with you. You do not need a solicitor for now but wait and see what the person/people are claiming as harrassment, it may be something you said without realising it and this may be just the way the college has to deal with it. If you believe this is unfounded then you have nothing to worry about.

amen

Before going to any meeting I would request information on the harassment, date(s) it occurred, what form of harassment etc.

I would also be looking for a copy of the colleges rules/handbook on student- student harassement, complains procedure etc

FreudianSlippers

amen wrote: »

Before going to any meeting I would request information on the harassment, date(s) it occurred, what form of harassment etc.

I would also be looking for a copy of the colleges rules/handbook on student- student harassement, complains procedure etc

I agree with this. If this is an informal meeting about possible harassment you should go with a witness and hear them out.

If, however, this is a disciplinary hearing of sorts in which you may be kicked out of the college, you need to tell your parents and discuss hiring a solicitor.


In order to assess the situation, you need to clarify what this meeting is about with your college, if it's disciplinary in nature, what the possible consequences are and get all relevant facts and information from the previous post.

JohnK

Is there a students union in the college? If so, it would probably be a good idea to talk to them too, maybe a rep would also attend the meeting with you - assuming the complaint wasnt made to them/they're hosting the meeting etc.

batman1

OK,

Had a meeting with the head of the college.

Basically had a list of allegations from 3 individuals against me and 2 others. All are completely untrue and I now know I am being victimised and have no idea why.

I requested everything in writing but was told 'they wouldn't have it for me', which I find strange. I was told the investigation would be conducted.

Although I know I have done nothing wrong and it is all malicious, I am concerned that 3 persons have conspired to allege harassment against me.

Livid....

234

Get in touch with a solicitor. Depending on the severity of the potential punishment there will be certain constraints on the way this inquiry can be carried out and you will have certain rights in relation to it.

Nolanger

batman1 wrote: »

Although I know I have done nothing wrong and it is all malicious, I am concerned that 3 persons have conspired to allege harassment against me.

You must have done something to make those fools jealous? Maybe you speak your mind or disagreed with someone? Could you be a top student without much effort? At least you're learning in college what people are really like.

Bosco boy

I note you acknowledge a clear division in the class, what might be a division to you could be harassment to someone else, are these 3 complainants the same gender as you? Have they complained against any of the remaining 16 in the class? I'm sure the whole class will be interviewed to get a picture of what's going on. I wonder are we getting the whole story!

FreudianSlippers

Yeah, you need a solicitor. Will leave open because I'm interested in the investigation and result. Keep us updated?

Carlow52

batman1 wrote: »

OK,

Had a meeting with the head of the college.

Basically had a list of allegations from 3 individuals against me and 2 others. All are completely untrue and I now know I am being victimised and have no idea why.

I requested everything in writing but was told 'they wouldn't have it for me', which I find strange. I was told the investigation would be conducted.

Although I know I have done nothing wrong and it is all malicious, I am concerned that 3 persons have conspired to allege harassment against me.

Livid....

I am speaking from experience here as a mature student in a dublin based college made up of the following letters C U D, My problem was I called a spade a spade re the course, the material, the lecturers etc etc so they got some of the class to lodge a complaint along the lines you mention.
No wish to rain on your parade here but I am a little concerned by the language.
eg
All are completely untrue
I now know I am being victimised
I know I have done nothing wrong and it is all malicious.

The problem here is that you think all these but obviously someone else thinks otherwise.
What is wrong?
You might not think so but if someone thinks you are wrong then...

Finding the real agenda here is the problem.

Let me give an example: many years ago I was posted as manager of a bank branch at short notice.

For 4 weeks I had 2 girls come in to my office each day crying and complaining about each other.
Once I had moved to the town I brought out all the staff for a feed of pints and at 02:00 I asked a few people what was the issue with the 2 girls:
Simple, "mary' had swiped "anne's' boyfriend:)

MinnyMinor

Carlow52 wrote: »

Once I had moved to the town I brought out all the staff for a feed of pints and at 02:00 I asked a few people what was the issue with the 2 girls:
Simple, "mary' had swiped "anne's' boyfriend:)

smart move asking at 2 am when all in vino veritas
Op let us know how you get on if you can

batman1

Have already discussed with a solicitor who is a friend. After outlining the whole issue, I was told it was all 'nonsense' and schoolyard stuff and not to worry but to get it all in writing as, once it's over, I may have a case against the college/complainants due to the way it has been handled. It's all 'he said/she said' stuff.

Example, In front of the class, I congratulated one of the individuals for getting a distinction in an assignment. This was then reported as part of the harassment. Another 2 or 3 'issues' similar. There is nothing more to it than that. Honestly, my 10 year old son wouldn't come home from school telling some of this stuff. (The 3 complainants have conspired against 4 of the class who would be in the same social group outside college. The 3 complainants were at my house for dinner in November and stayed the night with wine etc)

I asked for times/dates etc in a written statement but was denied. The college are not following their harassment procedures and when this was pointed out by me, they immediately became defensive.

As for telling the whole story, thats it. There is no story. As far as I'm concerned I have been maliciously targeted and defamed as a result.

ssbob

batman1 wrote: »

Have already discussed with a solicitor who is a friend. After outlining the whole issue, I was told it was all 'nonsense' and schoolyard stuff and not to worry but to get it all in writing as, once it's over, I may have a case against the college/complainants due to the way it has been handled. It's all 'he said/she said' stuff.

Example, In front of the class, I congratulated one of the individuals for getting a distinction in an assignment. This was then reported as part of the harassment. Another 2 or 3 'issues' similar. There is nothing more to it than that. Honestly, my 10 year old son wouldn't come home from school telling some of this stuff. (The 3 complainants have conspired against 4 of the class who would be in the same social group outside college. The 3 complainants were at my house for dinner in November and stayed the night with wine etc)

I asked for times/dates etc in a written statement but was denied. The college are not following their harassment procedures and when this was pointed out by me, they immediately became defensive.

As for telling the whole story, thats it. There is no story. As far as I'm concerned I have been maliciously targeted and defamed as a result.

I am not saying I don't believe you here but theres never smoke without fire and if hand over heart you can say there is no case to answer for then I reckon you should pursue a defamation case.

ldxo15wus6fpgm

batman1 wrote: »

Example, In front of the class, I congratulated one of the individuals for getting a distinction in an assignment. This was then reported as part of the harassment.

I'm sorry but I just think something's missing from this, if someone had reported you for harassing them by congratulating them on a good result they'd be told to go away and not try and abuse the system.

MinnyMinor

Emberly Cold Tenant wrote: »

I'm sorry but I just think something's missing from this, if someone had reported you for harassing them by congratulating them on a good result they'd be told to go away and not try and abuse the system.

i understood someone else he congratulated? and the other person is claiming not being congratulated is harrassment?

batman1

MinnyMinor wrote: »

i understood someone else he congratulated? and the other person is claiming not being congratulated is harrassment?

The person making the allegations is the one I congratulated. Apparently they felt uncomfortable being told this in front of the class.

I also found out that the person was bullied as a child so maybe it's an ongoing insecurity or something. I am not worried about it in any case, but when it is sorted out I am going to go full steam against them and the college.

MinnyMinor

batman1 wrote: »

The person making the allegations is the one I congratulated. Apparently they felt uncomfortable being told this in front of the class.

I also found out that the person was bullied as a child so maybe it's an ongoing insecurity or something. I am not worried about it in any case, but when it is sorted out I am going to go full steam against them and the college.

sorry, misunderstood you

krd

I had a similar experience at college. Two girls, who I really didn't even know, were going around claiming I was stalking them. There was no truth in it. I have no idea what their problem was. It was completely malicious. For some reason they wanted to get enough on me to go to the police. There was no smoke, and there was no fire. I had to go around and talk to everyone I knew and talk to them about it. No one believed them. And a few told me, the girls had even told them it was just for malice.

Naikon

OP, if they didn't follow their own procedure, you can use this as an argument for a litigation lawsuit. Even if you were wrong, it undermines their position if you can prove they ****ed up along the way. They will back back down if you can prove they undermined their own policies.

Colleges are mostly talk, so when you bring lawyers into the mix, you are showing you won't put up with any ****e. Colleges don't want to deal with lawyers, generally. This is a crazy situation.

Jev/N

Naikon wrote: »

OP, if they didn't follow their own procedure, you can use this as an argument for a litigation lawsuit. Even if you were wrong, it undermines their position if you can prove they ****ed up along the way. They will back back down if you can prove they undermined their own policies.

Colleges are mostly talk, so when you bring lawyers into the mix, you are showing you won't put up with any ****e. Colleges don't want to deal with lawyers, generally. This is a crazy situation.

A wha?

NUTLEY BOY

1. Any news?
2. Does OP have any basis to report this to the Gardaí?