I get bullied (euphemistically put , “hazed”) by an ex-con employee during my first week at work, because he thinks I make more money than him, and doing it while being younger.
He makes passive aggressive remarks inside the office, with aggressive behavior outside the office. This is the first drone job he has had. He is not my superior, but sits behind me and constantly makes comments about what is on my screen at work. Retaliates constantly if I banter to gain his respect.
Brags about being from a trailer park, hells angel as a dad, and having a flaming skull tattooed on his hand (edgy). He sets the seniority tone in my department and I aim to behave like him in order to have something in common. That way he stops the aggression towards me. Copied behavior includes lewd humor.
He also smokes a lot of weed at work and as a result his behavior is erratic, unprofessional to say the least, and mentally unstable. This is from a THC vape cartridge. He also defends drinking at work when there is much to do.
A month passes, One afternoon, we are discussing different methods of a solution. I am just asking if there is a different way to solve an issue but he gets frustrated. So he raises his voice out of disrespect in front of my manager and teammates.
I call him white trash (delivery was mumbled) in efforts to get him to back off. He hears me finally however is now upset. He is also excited because he now has the leverage to go to HR and retaliate (I’ll show him is what he said to my teammates).
I go to HR the following day to apologize shamefully cause I felt bad for reacting when being yelled at but he has beat me to it.
HR investigates for 2 weeks, fast forward today. Suddenly I am terminated because I am now a racist/sexual harassment.
HR claims I made a comment about a sexual organ which is sexual harassment (while I may have made a dick joke, I certainly do not recall a time I offended anyone and the aggressor uses the same language everyday but he is in my department.)
The aforementioned thc vape was disregarded by HR as “tobacco vape”. I am all for cannabis use, but not on company time when it certainly affects your behavior towards others.
All my concerns of bullying, substance abuse, and toxic work environment was disregarded by HR as “unsubstantiated claims”.
And that’s how I got they allowed an ex-con to set the toxic work culture, buddy up and harass a newcomer to a point of being triggered, then cancelling said newcomer without addressing the root issue.
How stupid is it that I (a POC) lost a case against myself against an older man with gang ties in an industry that serves law enforcement, substance abuse at work, and creating a toxic work environment. All under the guise of racial/sexual harassment. I am frankly surprised but also disappointed by this company while they claim to foster a safe and inclusive work environment.