in 2019 I was targeted by a couple of collegues.

Anonymous

September 8,2023 at 3:34AM UTC

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in 2019 I was targeted by a couple of collegues. They would write emails to senior leadership about aspects of my job that were not their area and were inaccurate. Alot of petty, behaviour. Their behaviours would stop and then start up again. In 2021 when they started again I spoke about it again to senior management and I was told I needed to document it. I said I had and I keep all my emails. Their behaviour stopped towards me and it was great but would flair up against my husband who also worked here. Petty complaints with lies of omission and half-truths. They have started up again and I feel its time to prove this is ongoing and pulled up one of the most blatant emails and it had been edited to read to sound more reasonable and the changed part is now in red. I have asked IT to find out if it has been modified and when and for the original. I noticed a lot of the others now have red or are completely gone. If this colleague has edited these sent emails after the fact what are my options?

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AnonymousSeptember 8,2023 at 4:37AM UTC
You’ll need to get an attorney. There are no options. You must now build a file off-site and either protect yourself or leave it alone and keep it in the past.Forensics will prove that these colleagues, with the expressed help from others in the company, have taken deliberate actions to discredit you. This is a coordinated effort with the intent to harm you personally and by association, your husband. Keep everything in a separate file at home. Keep a personal journal off-site. You are nonlonger safe. To get into your server and delete or tamper with company communications is extremely serious and not to be taken lightly.
AnonymousSeptember 8,2023 at 7:39PM UTC
I feel you are right, I am also dealing with cancer and related health issues. I am torn between just walking away for my own well-being or taking it further as if they have done this to me how many other people have they done this to.
AnonymousSeptember 12,2023 at 12:18PM UTC
Get out of there for your own health. If they can make this kind of thing disappear, you’re gonna have an uphill battle. Don’t waste your time - they’re not gonna change.
AnonymousSeptember 12,2023 at 2:54PM UTC
Unfortunately, when it comes to documenting, simply storing emails or slack messages in a folder won't suffice. True documentation entails either copying and pasting them into a document or capturing a screenshot and pasting it, along with the corresponding dates and a concise explanation of the context. Always approach documentation as a means to substantiate your case. It's disheartening when it comes to this, but it is an unfortunate reality.
AnonymousSeptember 12,2023 at 6:03PM UTC
Always bcc your own personal email or take screenshots with your personal phone. You cannot ask IT who works for the company to help you because they are not required to and will likely not do this because of security risks, etc. So your only recourse is to find an attorney who specializes in toxic workplace and harassment cases and have them draft a sternly written letter and suggest that if it does not stop that you will file a formal complaint with the EEOC that will request all documentation from the company. Be sure to have their legal dept cc'ed. Good luck.
AnonymousSeptember 13,2023 at 2:02PM UTC
Do NOT copy company emails to a personal device. That's often a violation of company policy and can be grounds for termination. Better to screen shot emails and keep them in a document on your local drive on your company laptop.
AnonymousSeptember 13,2023 at 6:08PM UTC
Tomato tomahto. Screenshotting would be exactly the same effect.
AnonymousSeptember 13,2023 at 2:28AM UTC
Thank you all for your advice. I realize now I was naive, I have since found out on older versions of outlook sent files could be edited and if you are on the same server it would flow through. It hasn't happened since our server and systems updated that this can no longer be done. All I can prove is that something changed as I had flagged the email and the completed date was before some of the emails sent date. Time for us to plan our exit.