Susan, a 61-year-old office cleaner, was made fun of and embarrassed when her coworker Mark purposefully overturned her mop bucket. When HR dismissed Susan’s concerns, she and her husband Jack took matters into their own hands, revealing Mark’s aggressive behavior and fighting for justice.
My sixty-one-year-old wife, Susan, is employed as an office cleaner. She like her job because it gives her a flexible schedule that lets her spend more time with our grandchildren and earns her a little extra money. She is able to engage in her favorite activity, which is reading books. She did, however, just been through a bad incident at work.
One evening when she arrived home, she appeared agitated. I realized right away.
“Susan, what’s wrong?” I asked, setting down my newspaper.
She sighed and sat down next to me. “You won’t believe what happened at work today, Jack.”
“What is it? Tell me.
She took a deep breath. “I was cleaning the floor in the hallway while going about my own business. I heard the corporate manager, Mr. Thompson, yelling at someone suddenly. He was berating them for failing to meet a deadline. claimed that it cost the company a big sponsor.”
“That doesn’t sound good,” I said, leaning closer.
“No, it wasn’t,” the woman said. “The yelling was so loud that even people walking by stopped to listen.”
“Who was he yelling at?” I asked.
“I’m not sure because I couldn’t see from where I was. However, this now appeared to be an angry man, and he stormed out of the office. He seemed furious.”
“What did you do?” I asked.
“I just kept mopping, trying not to get in his way. But he came right up to me and threw my water bucket over.”
“He did what?” I almost screamed.
“Yes, he did knock the bucket over, letting dirty water fly all over the place. Even the offices adjacent were impacted,” she said, trembling.
It’s terrible! How did you behave?”
“I started cleaning up the debris right away. He called me a fool at that point. You’re so elderly that you can’t even mop the floor? After that, he just walked away.”
She had the agony in her eyes. Susan, it’s terrible. Did someone help you?
“No, Jack. Others who worked in the nearby workplaces told me to clean up the mess. They thought I had succeeded.”
“Did you explain what happened?” I asked.
“I tried my best. But later on, I received a call from my boss at his office. If something similar happened again, she threatened to terminate me.”
“Destroyed? It’s not fair. I started crying.
“I know. I was telling her the truth, but no one was buying it,” Susan said, her eyes welling with tears.
I was starting to lose my temper. This is untrue. In this regard, we need to act.”
“What can we do, Jack? They don’t think I’m credible.”
I’m going to the office tomorrow. I’ll talk to the HR manager,” I said firmly.
The next day I visited her office building. As I stepped in, I wanted to talk with the HR manager.
“Hello, I’m Jack Johnson. “My wife, Susan, works here as a cleaner,” I continued as I was being shown into his office.
“Mr. Johnson, please have a seat. The HR manager asked, “How may I assist you?”
I took a seat and told the whole tale. “A man named Mark upset her yesterday by tipping over her bucket. She tried her hardest to explain things, but nobody believed her.”
The HR manager listened carefully. “Let’s check the security camera footage.”
We viewed the video together. It showed the man charging toward Susan after screaming out of the manager’s office. But the camera angle didn’t capture him toppling the bucket.
“Mr. Johnson, I apologize,” the manager of human resources shook his head. “Without concrete evidence, we are unable to prosecute Mark. He has been a valued employee here for fifteen years and has never had any concerns.”
“So, my spouse just needs to accept this? Growing increasingly agitated, I shot back, “She’s the one who got yelled at and threatened with losing her job.”
“I understand your frustration, Mr. Johnson, but without more proof, our hands are tied,” the HR manager retorted.
I felt defeated as I walked out of the office. I got home and Susan was waiting for me. Though hope was shining in her eyes, I had to give the dreadful news to her.
“I’m sorry, my love. They claimed they are helpless in the absence of proof. He did not do the deed while being filmed.”
I could feel the hurt in her eyes even though she tried not to show it by nodding.
I did further research since I found it hard to believe that Mark had not had any problems in ten years. I urged Susan to invite her colleagues to lunch, hoping to find out more about them. Susan commented about her coworkers’ kindness all the time.
Two electricians and eight women who worked as floor cleaners made up the ten persons who attended our celebration. Though I had a plan when we were together, we had a terrific time.
I casually brought up Susan’s experience and HR’s disdain for my concerns. “You know,” I replied, “HR turned down Susan’s complaint regarding Mark. Has he caused issues for anyone else?
There was a little pause until one of the electricians, Tom, spoke out. It was his statement, “Mark has always been a jerk.” “He’s sabotaged our tools a few times.”
The housekeeper, Maria, nodded. “He’s belittled me in front of others more times than I can count.”
Another cleaner, Linda, commented, “He’s clever about it, though. He knows where he disappears from view of the cameras.”
It was found that Mark had a history of bullying, with a special focus on the cleaners even though they knew their complaints were usually ignored.
Since everyone was shocked by Mark’s behavior, I came up with a plan. “Why don’t we write a letter to the CEO?” I suggested. “Detail everything Mark has done.”
Susan agreed with her colleagues. They wrote a long letter in which they detailed Mark’s treatment of them. Because we didn’t trust HR, we sent the letter directly to the CEO. Even though we didn’t think anything would happen right away, we nevertheless decided to get further evidence.
I purchased a tiny recorder and gave Susan instructions. “Just get him talking,” I muttered to myself. “We need his own words.”
The next day, Susan stood outside the office waiting for Mark. When he came out, she approached him. Why did you treat me in this manner, Mark? How did I merit that privilege? “What would your mother say?” she said.
Mark smiled. “My mother would be proud of me for putting someone like you in your place,” he shot back, showing no sign of regret. “Take caution, or I might splash dirty water on you again. You’re only an employee here, but I’m a vital player.”
I recorded the entire discussion on camera from a distance, just in case. When he was gone, I saw a proud expression on Susan’s face. She declared, “I got him.”
The next day, we brought the recording to HR. “This is proof of what he did,” I said, initiating the recording.
HR tried to cover it up. They were saying, “This doesn’t prove anything substantial.”
I gave up and took an alternative route. After adding Susan’s recorder audio, I uploaded the movie to the internet. Numerous media outlets approached us for interviews when the video instantly went viral. After providing the evidence, Susan spoke about her experience on video.
The following day, the company’s CEO issued a public apology. He made the following comment in a statement: “I was unaware of the systematic abuse by my employee.” “I apologize to Susan and her colleagues.”
Susan received payment, and Mark and the HR manager were let go by the company. She was happy with the innovative and effective way I had defended her.
“It’s incredible that it’s over,” Susan exclaimed, relief lighting up her face. “Thank you, Jack. You made a big difference.”
I smiled at her. “I’m glad we could give you the justice you were due. Now let’s move forward and enjoy some peace.”
Susan took a strong hold of my hand and nodded. Sure, let’s execute that. And maybe, finally, I won’t have any issues and can only take pleasure in my work and literature.”
We both knew it had been an arduous journey, but seeing Susan smile made it worthwhile.