Being harassed at work by client, options? Updated

[rudeguy]

Possibly counseling though.

not at a half way house. Usually they keep track of people and that's about it.

 

[ichy]

I'm not 100% but I believe just describing this situation is a violation of her HIPPA rights. At least that is what I was taught in the halfway house I worked at.

Realistically there's no way that any of us could identify the "client" so it's not a HIPPA violation (not that false rape accusations are covered by HIPPA anyways.)

 

[ichy]

you guys are assuming hes innocent. its very common for people in his position to take advantage of helpless women:

False rape accusations are very common, especially from sociopathic ex-cons.

 

[waterjug]

I'm not 100% but I believe just describing this situation is a violation of her HIPPA rights. At least that is what I was taught in the halfway house I worked at.

It's HIPAA, and it depends on whether the OP's employer is providing her with any medical treatment. Doesn't sound like it to me.

This.


Plus, the fact I've provided no location, no identifying details that could be used to figure out who the person is, and no information on their appearance, etc.

edit: hadn't seen this:

Realistically there's no way that any of us could identify the "client" so it's not a HIPPA violation (not that false rape accusations are covered by HIPPA anyways.)

I'm going to the police today!

 

[classy]

I currently run a sort of halfway house for women that is one step before they return back to the community and get on with their lives. There is a client there who, for lack of a better word, appears to be nearly sociopathic. Several months ago she claimed she was being raped in the house by a male staff member. When I investigated I found several holes in her story, including that she was never alone with this staff member, other staff the client claimed were coming in the day of the rape never worked with this staff member, and just in general her story was blatantly fabricated. The poor staff was still suspended for the duration of the investigation, before being completely cleared. During the investigation she also claimed that this had happen to her before at another program, using the same details as this one.

So a couple months go by, and while I'm out for a week being investigated myself for something unrelated (I was completely cleared as well), she tries changing her claim. This time she tells the exact same story but plugs my name in for the previous staff member, (or for the staff member at the first program she was at). She apparently does it so poorly and with so many holes in the story that she is told by the person she reports it to that she'd likely face charges or a lawsuit if she pursues it. Still, not pleasant. So about 3 weeks ago she tries it AGAIN. Same thing, no way I was alone with her ever, no way the staff that were supposedly working that day could've been there with me, etc.

I'm sick of this, every time it happens I (or other staff) get suspended, and have to endure weeks of investigations. I don't get why there isn't some sort of check & balance here. She has faced no actual repercussions for her actions. The real kicker is that the client is an illegal alien. She's getting her services for free, her housing for free, her food for free, and instead of working with us, she's attempting to ruin the lives of myself and multiple staff members. I have never been as depressed as I have been these past 3 weeks, and I can't keep going on like this. I just want to help people, and my life is being ruined. Can anyone think of ANY options I have?

tl;dr
1) Work in halfway house
2) Client who is here illegally repeatedly accuses multiple individuals of raping her, stories are blatantly fabricated.
3) Continues unabated with no repercussions.

What does her being an illegal alien have anything to do with you doing your job?

 

[waterjug]

What does her being an illegal alien have anything to do with you doing your job?

Because instead of being deported we've given her free food, free housing, and free services, and are bending over backwards to help her get her green card.

 

[rudder]

Why weren't the police called every time she made an accusation?

I can't imagine it is company policy to not report crimes.

Giving a false statement to police could make her rethink her plan.

This. Imagine if she actually did get raped after pulling this crap.... she would get a settlement of millions of dollars. I would have called the police and whip out the rape kits to gather DNA evidence or lack thereof. Plus she could be charged with filing false reports etc if she kept up her story.

Company sounds like it is setting itself up for a big fall.

 

[Adul]

1) call the cops.

to much risk with this.

Call INS, err ICE, whatever it is they are called now.

 

[waterjug]

The police were PISSED. Apparently when this lady has been crying rape to my superiors they never reported it to the police, as they're supposed to. The officer made a valid point; the first time this happened if it had been reported to the police the client would have either had to confirm her story, and file a report, or recant. If she filed the report and it turned out to be false (which it was) she would've been hit with charges, and all of this could've been avoided.

Also, a restraining order wouldn't apply here because she's not a physical threat to me. There's some other kind of order that basically tells the person to shut the f up that I may be able to puruse.

 

[sixone]

The police were PISSED. Apparently when this lady has been crying rape to my superiors they never reported it to the police, as they're supposed to. The officer made a valid point; the first time this happened if it had been reported to the police the client would have either had to confirm her story, and file a report, or recant. If she filed the report and it turned out to be false (which it was) she would've been hit with charges, and all of this could've been avoided.

Also, a restraining order wouldn't apply here because she's not a physical threat to me. There's some other kind of order that basically tells the person to shut the f up that I may be able to puruse.

Good for you, for getting the cops involved. I hope you don't lose your job over it, but you're probably better off if you do.

 

[waggy]

The police were PISSED. Apparently when this lady has been crying rape to my superiors they never reported it to the police, as they're supposed to. The officer made a valid point; the first time this happened if it had been reported to the police the client would have either had to confirm her story, and file a report, or recant. If she filed the report and it turned out to be false (which it was) she would've been hit with charges, and all of this could've been avoided.

Also, a restraining order wouldn't apply here because she's not a physical threat to me. There's some other kind of order that basically tells the person to shut the f up that I may be able to puruse.

well duh. she was breaking the law, and BTW so were superiors. IF she was really rapped they were basically hiding it. it's a fucked up situation and heading too a very nasty lawsuit.

 

[waterjug]

Good for you, for getting the cops involved. I hope you don't lose your job over it, but you're probably better off if you do.

Thanks!

If I lose the job I'll go for their jugulars with a lawsuit. Incidents like the one I described in this thread are not isolated at this company.


edit: For anyone wondering, things do happen a lot in this field, rumors/complaints/etc. But what has been happening here goes far beyond that, and the company's lack of response and blaming of victims is borderline sickening to me.


Edit 2: Heard back from the detective! They told me to go to the local town court, speak to an advocate there, then fill out a particular affidavit, and I can hopefully get the order then.

 

[waterjug]

Update: Went to the court house, they told me I need to have a few documented complaints with the police about this person before I can file the order. I asked them if I can file complaints retroactively to when this person first started making up their bullshit. Courthouse confirmed this, so I'm going to the police today to file a couple reports, then back to the courthouse probably monday to get the order.

Heard from my boss, they basically asked if I was 'really sure I wanted to do this', and talked about repercussions if I do. Unbelievable. I asked my boss where the repercussions were for the person when they were filing multiple fake rape reports and ruining people's jobs. They had no answer.

 

[sixone]

Update: Went to the court house, they told me I need to have a few documented complaints with the police about this person before I can file the order. I asked them if I can file complaints retroactively to when this person first started making up their bullshit. Courthouse confirmed this, so I'm going to the police today to file a couple reports, then back to the courthouse probably monday to get the order.

Heard from my boss, they basically asked if I was 'really sure I wanted to do this', and talked about repercussions if I do. Unbelievable. I asked my boss where the repercussions were for the person when they were filing multiple fake rape reports and ruining people's jobs. They had no answer.

Good for you. :thumbsup:
Document everything you can of the conversation with your boss - especially if anything he said can be construed as a threat.

 

[SpatiallyAware]

+1... Document everything.. Including the threats from your boss about repercussions.

 

[Phoenix86]

As far as documenting, keep a daily log of events (even if nothing happened, document that). If you have access to email, use it > verbal communications. Forward emails to a personal account. If your boss initiates a verbal communication it might be best to send a follow up e-mail "I want to confirm our discussion earlier...".

Good luck.

 

[KaOTiK]

+1... Document everything.. Including the threats from your boss about repercussions.

I'd for sure document that about repercussions from your boss. I'd even ask the officer you are dealing with if there it can be filed with all the rest of the crap. Sounds like they (boss/higher ups) are not wanting to dealing with this and the easiest way in their eyes will be to let you go if it starts causing them headaches.

 

[dabuddha]

Would a restraining order help?

 

[waterjug]

I'd for sure document that about repercussions from your boss. I'd even ask the officer you are dealing with if there it can be filed with all the rest of the crap. Sounds like they (boss/higher ups) are not wanting to dealing with this and the easiest way in their eyes will be to let you go if it starts causing them headaches.

Great minds think alike. When this first happened I immediately logged into my work email account and forwarded everything pertinent to one of my own email accounts. I also created a time-line, of this, and a whole slew of other similar events that have happened there. I thought it would be short. It's 16 pages long. The thing is, almost all of what I have is backed up by emails, witnesses who I've already spoken to who support me, former employees who were run off by this shit, etc. There's very little wriggle-room for the company here.

It's funny, I noticed something when I was first working there, my boss always upbraided me when I would send emails to her about things. She stated "you should be calling, not emailing. Email is not an official document". A phone call is? Regardless I still kept emailing important things, specifically just in case anything like this happened.

 

[waterjug]

Would a restraining order help?

They only give those out if you're afraid of actual physical violence, I'm not in this case.

 

[artvscommerce]

you guys are assuming hes innocent. its very common for people in his position to take advantage of helpless women:

http://www.kcbd.com/story/13016033/lubbock-halfway-house-worker-indicted-sexual-abuse
http://www.post-gazette.com/stories...fway-house-worker-held-on-sex-charges-640430/
http://sfappeal.com/news/2010/11/halfway-house-worker-admits-to-sexually-abusing-inmate.php

if hes doing stuff like this, he should be reported, investigated and charged.

"The real kicker is that the client is an illegal alien. She's getting her services for free, her housing for free, her food for free". so she owes you free bj's?

you are a horrible troll. this guy decided to go into a career that directly results in making the world a better place. If his career choice is the only reason you can come up with as to why he isn't being truthful, you could really benefit from a class or two in logic.

 

[sixone]

Great minds think alike. When this first happened I immediately logged into my work email account and forwarded everything pertinent to one of my own email accounts. I also created a time-line, of this, and a whole slew of other similar events that have happened there. I thought it would be short. It's 16 pages long. The thing is, almost all of what I have is backed up by emails, witnesses who I've already spoken to who support me, former employees who were run off by this shit, etc. There's very little wriggle-room for the company here.

It's funny, I noticed something when I was first working there, my boss always upbraided me when I would send emails to her about things. She stated "you should be calling, not emailing. Email is not an official document". A phone call is? Regardless I still kept emailing important things, specifically just in case anything like this happened.

BIG red flag, when boss asks to have phone calls rather than email. Good thing you ignored those requests. 🙂