ptsd Can't Take Mental Harassment

[simple fly]

this is in an area i can't categorize. i have been suffering from ptsd for 34 years,claim is in finally,diagnisis is done.since i got out of the military,i have worked twice for the federal govt.this time i can see retirement in the distance.now here's he problem,on a daily basis,my coworkers ,bang on my office wall for eight hours a day and run away,5 days a week.when i react,as i usually am scared shitless,they laugh and jeer. i have asked,pleaded,try to explain my ptsd.my supervisor has been unable to get them to back off.this has been going on for years.

what can i do?who can i turn to? my shrink knows this but offers no solution.i feel like i will lose it before i get my claim and retirement.

anyone ever get this treatment at work?and a federal gov job to boot.i need help soon.

[john999]

It is easier to win a retaliation complaint than a simple EEOC complaint. Once you file the EEOC complaint if your employer retaliates against you in any way you then file another complaint for retaliation. I won one of these against the Post Office where I worked for 20 years. Most federal managers are just people who want to get along and not rock the boat. If your createa fire under them they will do what is necessary to put it out. As long as this harassment continues then continue to file complaints and take notes every time it happens.

[hotcoffee2]

mr. fly dear heart.....all good information here. but bear in mind you have to file the eeoc complaint first. retaliation and big bucks may or may not follow. i am very sensitive to the fact that you are ill. i have similar affliction. so go slow. talk to your therapist, request a copy of your medical record to make sure she's an advocate for you. find someone outside the system to talk and vent. ignore your tormentors, document, sit down with your manager. making an appointment is more professional. prepare yourself before you go in there.

remember we are all here to support you through this.

patti

It is easier to win a retaliation complaint than a simple EEOC complaint. Once you file the EEOC complaint if your employer retaliates against you in any way you then file another complaint for retaliation. I won one of these against the Post Office where I worked for 20 years. Most federal managers are just people who want to get along and not rock the boat. If your createa fire under them they will do what is necessary to put it out. As long as this harassment continues then continue to file complaints and take notes every time it happens.

[hotcoffee2]

It is easier to win a retaliation complaint than a simple EEOC complaint. Once you file the EEOC complaint if your employer retaliates against you in any way you then file another complaint for retaliation. I won one of these against the Post Office where I worked for 20 years. Most federal managers are just people who want to get along and not rock the boat. If your createa fire under them they will do what is necessary to put it out. As long as this harassment continues then continue to file complaints and take notes every time it happens.

[vaf]

It sounds like you don't have a long time before you retire, but yet as brief as that time may be, you can't find a way to tolerate it or ignore it anymore. If that's the case, and I can't stress this enough, do not lose your temper and in any way tip your hand and let your employer know you plan to file an EEOC complaint. Let the EEOC tell him that, and by then, it's too late for him to retaliate against you without paying the consequences.

Whatever happens afterwards, you have some expectation of legal protection from retaliation. But before that, you do not. If your employer finds out you intend to file a complaint before you actually do, he might suddenly find all kinds of fault with your performance, fabricate stories of customer or employee complaints about you, or that because of budget constraints, your job is being eliminated and your duties redistributed to other employees. The timing on these events would be suspicious, but unless you have an EEOC complaint already filed, the benefit of the doubt does not go to you, it goes to your employer. This is because (except in Montana), we work in an at-will employment climate, unless you have a written contract that says otherwise. The same discretion allowed to employees to freely walk away from their jobs for better opportunities is the same discretion allowed to employers to dismiss employees for any reason, or no reason at all. That is, with the exception of retaliation for filing an EEOC complaint, or whistleblower statutes in the event you report that your employer is violating a law or public policy.

Stay in close touch with your mental health counselor, of course. An EEOC complaint is not for anyone without a strong stomach to withstand the stress that goes with it, and don't let anyone fool you, there is stress (because I've gone through it and I don't have PTSD). However, it's much worse stress to allow yourself to be victimized without doing something to fight back and protect yourself. Have your counselor help you find the space within yourself to do that.

[simple fly]

vaf

yes i have many emails going back early and stopping yesterday.i have kept them all.i can't get documentation where these guys retaliate by banging harder,taunting,and name calling.to leave my office i must walk down a corridor about 250 feet .these jerks crowd me each time i go to the restroom and jeer.

just yesterday when i came bac from lunch,someone stole my glucovance from my desk.

i was sent home once for losing my temper and all of this is documented.they feared for themselves because i was loud. i sit in my office and literally am on the verge of a stroke.this starts at 7 in the morning and ends when i go home at 4.by 9 in the morning i can't even stop shaking from both anger and fear.

my boss told me yesterday she would appeal to them to stop,but that has not stopped it yet.today,i am home on a sick day.my leave is down to nothing because i can't bear to go to work over this.

along with my pending va claims for ptsd,db2,eyes,and others ,i am wound tighter than a cheap watch.

sorry to vent...i had som good friends killed in the edmond post office massacre and i hated the guy that di that, but now i see how an individual could be bullied into that.but i will be strong...well as much as i can.

my wife is helping by trying to steer me away from stressful situations because she can see this negative chang in my behavior daily.

thanks all.

alsoi am very hurt by the 'OLD MAN" name calling.this started when i developed neuropathy and started walking funny..my tires have been cut 17 times at work and my paint has been keyed many times while parked in my handicap spot.all of this while parked on the largest airforce base in the free world.these guys remind me of the punks spitting at me in the airport back in the early 70's

Edited October 9, 2008 by simple fly

[Guest Vietnam Tanker]

SimpleFly, If you work for the government then do as John999 and I have done in the past, apply for disability retirement now and end the agony.