HIrelings

A " senior staff member" was
accused of immoral conduct by
another staff member, the person
who laid the accusation was not
a flippant person, her character and 
conduct have always been flawless
within the company. She could have
done what other "smart ladies"
would do, which would be to
lead the man on, record his
conversations, lure him to a
hotel and embarrass him to
cause a scandal. She didn't do
this. She told her husband what
was going on. She explained
the words of this man and said
the way he conducts himself
towards her on their phone
conversations and in real life
was too sexually suggestive,
familiar, and uncomfortable.
 
Her husband asked her to
discuss with the Human Resources 
manager of her company and she did.
The man in question is of questionable 
character, he lies a lot, and his
testimony within the company is 
suspicious. Even though he has
not slept with anyone within that
company yet he was really working
on it. His preference was married
women, he had this belief that
they were easier to get than
the single ones. He had a track
record of such conduct while he
was working in his previous place
of employment and he boasts of
it sometimes while speaking.
 
Something had to be done.
The matter was reported to the office 
leadership. 
The Human Resources Manager said 
"Well, since there is no evidence of 
any crime committed and
we want to avoid a situation
where the accused would deny
the whole matter and cause a stink,
we will give this man a warning.
We cannot suspend him officially
but we will warn him to conduct
himself properly henceforth if
however, he repeats this offense,
we will give him the boot.
 
The HR manager assured this
lady that she will have a friendly
chat with the man and direct
him to act professionally.
That was wisdom.
This same man reached out to
another female colleague asking
her to come and join a team
he was leading. The lady
reached out to her Head
of Department asking for
permission to oblige this man.
 
The HOD was aware of the
"verdict" the Human Resources
manager proposed and told this sister
not to join this man's team. 
Someone overheard the conversation and
told this man what he heard.
This man called the MD, says
he had a spy in that team
who gave him info about
a "suspension".
 
The MD began to play both sides
even though he was aware of
what had happened and had been
told several times to take a firm
stand on this issue. He would
say one thing to the lady and
another thing to man, to his
own mind he was trying to
manage the crisis.
 
He said "If the HOD
didn't Iet the cat out of
the bag, we would have
suspended this man but now
we no longer can". Yet the
elephant in the room had
to be addressed. The man
was called and told about
the accusation, he denied it
violently. He insisted the lady
must be brought to a meeting
to face him because he had
a right to face his "accuser".
 
Everybody knew he was guilty
but because he was not trapped
he would turn everything into a
shouting match. It would only
cause a stink in the office.
It was a very bad idea.
 
The MD said "No, since
you denied it we will take
your word for it". The man
wouldn't let it go.He went
to meet this lady and harassed her.
This lady went to meet the MD
and reported to him that this
man called her and said some
stinging words to her.
 
The MD was still playing
"Mr. Neutral". If an innocent
man was accused of such,
he will willingly keep away
from the lady, even if his
choice of words which included
"I like the way you pack
your breast" and "I know where
to touch in your body that
your husband has not discovered"
among others were "jokes" that
had been taken out of context or 
misinterpreted for making a pass
at the opposite sex inappropriately,
It means there is something about
him that he sincerely needed to
work on.
 
A guilty man would react the
opposite way, he will do everything
to vilify his victim and intimidate
everyone including the victim
into swallowing their words.
The MD erred seriously.
Instead of doing the right thing,
he promoted this man under the
cloud of accusation into the
the management team and empowered
him the more to oppress those
who dare try to caution him.
The victim was also transferred
to this man's department and made 
to answer to him as a direct subordinate.
The man kept harassing the woman, 
insulting her, and even sending a
message to the MD that by
refusing to sack this sister,
the management team of
the company was ridiculing him.
Why was this MD behaving like this?
 
He is an administrator, not
a manager. He didn't see " value in people" 
he saw value in results
and in his estimation, this accused
man is of more value to the office
than the lady. So he was
not invested in the well-being
of staff members the way a
good manager should be
To him keeping both staff members
were more important than building a
more comfortable work environment.
 
This accused man was given
more power, even while the
stink of the accusation was rife.
He used the power the only
way he could, and this lady
became the subject of his scorn
and insults. It was as if
this MD couldn't put himself
in the shoe of the victim and
at least see things from
her perspective. His action
killed the zeal of this lady and
she left the company. Of course,
the accused was happy he had
finally gotten rid of her through
his intimidation, insults, and
shenanigans.
 
The one thing the MD didn't
know was that this lady's older
brother was the angel investor
who invested 20 billion Naira
Into the company when it was
taking off under the management
of the pioneer Managing Director
As soon as she left, the investor
Insisted on pulling his funds and
the entire office began to shake.
 
Now the MD is begging,
the HR manager is begging,
the accused simply resigned
and left as soon as he saw
that the company is in a
financial mess. The client is
insisting the only condition for
him to leave his money is if
the lady returns to the office.
The lady said No way.
Now they are begging
the lady and promising
heaven and earth.
 
PS: A vibrant business needs a good 
manager, the work of a manager is
not to push papers but to manage
people. When justice is not done,
We encourage impunity.
A pastor friend of mine would say
"Justice must not only be done
but justice must also be seen
to have been done"
 
-GSW-