I am having a problem with a certain coworker, who wants to file a grievance against me because someone told?

Question

her that I said some derogatory things about her that she is useless and doesn't know what she is doing. I didn't say those thing about her. The woman use to be my boss 4 years ago before I got another position in our state gov. agency for three months. She never liked me for no reason because I was appointed to my job, and she doesn't like the fact that I am of a certain color and political persuasion. She has been saying stuff about me to other colleagues but I didn't go around saying that I would file a complaint because it is heresay.

What happened one her employees, had hacked into my computer. I saw her employees user id on my Novell log in. I called the help desk and got a ticket number. Later that day, the IT guy called me and I explained about my computer. He said for me to contact the woman. I told him no because we can't stand eacher we don't get along. We have a history. I don't feel that need to contact her because it is a computer issue.

The IT guys says you should stop saying stuff about people. I said what are you talking about. He said that I am rude and that I screwed him on a workers compensation claim 4 years ago. He never filed a workers comp claim 4 years ago according to my records.

He came the next day to fix my computer. Said that I was rude. I received an email from the woman saying he said that I says those things which were untrue.
My supervisor told me that she wanted to sue me but convinced her not to file a grievance. Those two said that my story doesn't match there's. You think, I am going to say that I said those things. Her supervisor said that it is not worth it because it is my word against their's. I was told even though she takes me to court, I could lose because it is three against one andget fired.

I a m still uncomfortable even though she will not file. I wonder what will happen to those written statements. There are no witinesses.
Should I still get a lawyer.

I have joined a union because of this. This is not the first time she was nasty towards me. This is come about because we have a new Governor and I was part of the old administration. I was told my job is safe and I am not on the list but now I am not too sure nowl. I think it is a coinscience

Answer 1

People don't make things up when quoting people "for no reason" - usually there is a grain of truth to their claims. People also usually don't dislike people "for no reason" - they don't always like each other, but typically don't waste the energy of going after someone unless there is a reason.
I absolutely HATE the fact that you mentioned being "of a certain color and politicial persuasion"!! People of all colors are successful in all different fields - quit trying to manipulate the situation this way! How does she know about your politics? That is information you should leave at home - nobody at work needs to know about your politics or religion. They pay you to do your job. period. Besides, unless you have concrete proof that she is finds your race or politics to be a problem, that is a terrible, terrible accusation.
When you are at work, you should assume that anything and everything you do on the computer is open for anyone to see. You do not have privacy rights when it comes to your computer at work - it is their property and anything you do on it is their property as well. If you didn't have anything to hide, you shouldn't be concerned WHO went into your computer.
I think you need to drop the whole thing for now, adjust YOUR attitude and possibly focus on YOUR job instead of who you don't like, who doesn't like you, who is looking into your computer, etc. This crap isn't important - doing the best job you can is important.
The only side-note that I have is if someone is blatantly being racist, threatening you, or being unfair to you when it comes to your salary, promotions, etc. you need to take action with the human resources department. If you do this, be absolutely certain that you are correct, leave the "feelings" at home and stick to the facts. You should have as much of it as you can in writing to support your claims.

Answer 2

Forget about the grievance until you are formally questioned. It may go nowhere. As for the computer hacking, report it to your supervisor - most companies have strict policies on computer privacy and unauthorized usage.

It sounds like you work in a hostile environment and you may have recourse through your state's labor board. But if you are in a union now maybe you can't. I have never heard of a union helping out the little guy on the totem pole, but good luck with that.

Seriously consider if you are offending people by what you say. When so many people think of you this way, you gotta ask yourself why. And stop thinking it is your race or color. That is a cop-out.

Answer 3

I'd talk to my immediate supervisor as soon as possible. You and this other lady need to clear the air between the two of you. THis could really escalade into something much worse than it is now. I wouldn't talk to anyone else at work about her or her employees until you've talked to your boss about it. Maybe they will have a better solution. But until then, I'd watch myself and not give anyone any possible reason to file a complaint againt me - stop all office gossip and back biting!