Tags: Harassment & bullying
This dilemma addresses issues of personal relationships at work and harassment & bullying.
Val overhears Kirsty gossiping over lunch with her friends.
“Our department’s like a Soap Opera!” she gasps. “That girl, Bella, she’s just started here, and already she’s dating the Team Leader! Now I’m not one to gossip, but some of us are concerned she’s getting preferential treatment. Y’know – if she’s late he doesn’t tell her off or dock her hours, or if she wants a day off he let’s her have it.”
“It’s bound to end in tears, these things usually do,” says one of Kirsty’s friends. “Octopus hands, we call him in our department.”
The women see that Val is listening and change the subject, but Val is concerned; Bella is young and has only just started at the call centre, and as far as she knows their Team Leader is married.
Val notices that the Kirsty and her gang continue to snigger whenever they see Bella, and she wonders if she should say something to them. It’s probably idle girly gossip; anyway, what people do in their private life is their own business.
What do you think Val should do?