An Event-ful day?

Today might be the day that the fallout from The Event is finally dealt with.

However, such is the obfuscation by The Organisation that it might not be.

It's now 142 days since The Event.  The Organisation has told me that there is going to be a meeting between three Managerials today at which The Event will be discussed, but it may not make a final decision on what to do with me.

I've not been given the names of two of The Managerials (although using Google I think that I've worked them out) and to a great extent it doesn't matter, but it adds to my general paranoia and feeling that everything is being kept behind closed doors as much as possible.

For example, the purpose and aim of this meeting is not clear; they don't know if it will result in a final decision; I have never been privy to the full process and therefore have never known what to expect to happen next; the whole thing has lasted 142 days so far with no hint of how much longer it will take nor if there is any limit on the duration.

I asked to be allowed to attend the meeting, which I assume will be held online due to The Plague, but this request has just been ignored.  No answer at all, not even a "No".

I don't think that any of The Managerials have got any experience of working in The Organisation apart from working as safeguarding people, and I'm very worried that they will therefore have no idea what is "normal".  That's certainly the impression that I've got from the correspondence so far.

One of The Managerials can't even spell the name of The Organisation correctly on Linked In.

I think that there's a very high chance that they will reach a Guilty verdict (although in complete contradiction of established English legal principles I have been treated as guilty since the start), not least because it's probably easier for them in terms of work: "Get rid of him, close the file. Next."

In addition, I seem already to have been removed from the database of The Organisation.  I've asked, but again they won't tell me why.

I'm certain that this would be the wrong decision and manifestly unfair, and that the whole process has been flawed from the beginning.  I would certainly challenge a Guilty verdict, even though The Rulebook of The Organisation says somewhat undemocratically "There is no right of appeal against a decision made by ...the authority who approved the suspension."

The result of all of this is that I'm sitting here trying not to think about the meeting that may be happening at this very moment that will decide my fate.  Two more things that I haven't been told are when the meeting is, not when I can expect to hear about what happened there, so I could be doing this for some days to come.

It seems pointless and borderline sadistic to spin things out like this.  I hope that I get the chance to influence the way that such matters are dealt with in the future, because I wouldn't want this to happen again.

132 days since The Event

The Event took place on Tuesday 4th February 2020. It has led to some dramatic changes for me, although they have been mitigated somewhat by the changes that have affected everyone since the plague became fashionable again.

For the vast majority of those 132 days (36% of 2020, I'm told) I have heard nothing from officialdom about The Event, or what long-term consequences it will have for me. I've been left to stew in my own juice, assume the worst and rely on the unending patience of my wife.

When I was finally allowed to know what the problem was and from where it came, I believed that things would start to move on.

Sadly that has not, so far, been the case.

The stage that we are now at is repeatedly blaming the pandemic for any and all delays, telling me off for not answering questions that were not asked, and making vague references to a "process" that is supposedly being followed.

I've no idea why this process could not have been outlined to me in full at the start, nor whether or not it contains any timescales which should be adhered to. As far as I know it isn't published anywhere and for all I know could be being made up as they go along.

I've still not been given a copy of the process, so I don't know what happens next.

This is somewhat annoying when The Organisation spouts all the usual corporate platitudes about being "open and honest" whenever they have the opportunity. I'm sure that they will react badly if I point this out to them.

That's the thing about The Event and others that are categorised with it: the people that deal with it at The Organisation are prone to misinterpreting anything, and always in such a way as to make things worse for The Accused.

Whatever you do, don't ask questions; don't get other people to write in your support (even though no-one has been asked for a character reference as far as I know); don't point out their mistakes; and definitely don't expect them to be even slightly on your side.

The things is, you see, that the normal fundamental tenets of British law do not apply in The Organisation in relation to The Event.

You are guilty until proven innocent.

In a complete turnaround from the normal judicial process, it's up to you to prove that you are innocent. "We've got this that shows that you did something wrong, we've already suspended you, why should we let you back eh?"

Despite this, and because I don't know the process, all that I've had has been a list of accusations and questions that i was sent with a request for answers to the questions.

Having sent my answers it turns out that this was in fact the only chance that I was going to get. There was to be no dialogue and no follow up questioning, and no opportunity to present statements from character witnesses or indeed from the person who was in the room and witnessed The Event.

You might expect that these statements would have been obtained as part of the "investigation" (a word that has been used many times but seems to consist merely of asking me questions and deciding whether or not The Organisation likes my answers), but you're forgetting that you're guilty until proven innocent, so why should they make work for themselves?

I didn't realise at the time, but the fact that the first question that I was asked was "Do you want to come back to The Organisation?" should have tipped me off that it's much easier for them if I just go away, rather than try to prove my innocence. My saying "Yes, I want to return" was probably my first mistake.

Where are we now, then? That's a good question. I don't know, because I haven't seen a written copy of the full process. I've been told that I'd hear something "in the next few days", and then what I actually heard was "likely to be a few days" more.  It appears that there are double standards in operation here, given that I only had 9 days to reply to the questions or my membership of The Organisation would be automatically cancelled.

I'd like to think that I'll get answers to my questions. I've asked several, and they've been studiously ignored. That at least is in line with my previous experiences of asking questions of The Organisation that they don't want to hear, but this is a bit more personal so I will be chasing them no matter what the outcome.

At this point I think that all options are open. I'll be severely distressed if they uphold the "guilty" verdict (which as I mentioned above they have already reached, and I have had to try to overturn) because I firmly believe that I've done nothing wrong. I've no idea whether the invisible process includes an appeal, but since these are available for every crime in the real world, I'll be expecting to make one should they stick to their guns.