A fabulous tale of workplace abuse

Me too. I like direct. I think we need to stay on topic though. I might use the wrong word.

In my experience, most people Iā€™ve met from anywhere have been nice.

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I donā€™t make a fuss of my birthday, I make a fuss of the kids. If it had fallen on a weekend, like it does some years, Iā€™d have done zip.

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Since you are 50, can I ask how old the guy who threatened you is?

You havenā€™t seen my previous posts. I got 230,000TWD payout from a previous employer. The 9000TWD here doesnā€™t even go to me, it would be a fine. However, itā€™s strategic. If the prosecutor report confirms he publicly insulted me, thatā€™s useful in the civil case against my employer, which is where I will again secure a large payout. But hopefully they will cough up at mediation, where I will be asking for around 300,000TWD: severance pay of 2 months, holiday pay, plus the pay from the day they began preventing me working to the day of the mediation hearing (where if they settle, I will agree to end the contract).

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To be fair, we are only seeing this story from one perspective. We donā€™t know why the other teacher was absent so frequently. What if he suffers from COVID vaccine side effects?

The ā€˜one perspectiveā€™ you are getting is far closer to the truth of the matter than what youā€™d get from any of the other parties involved. I have no reason to lie, and I have tried to provide the most relevant facts and only left out names and places.

This teacher had an illness (not Covid-related). The other teachers were all long-time friends and were defensive about the guy. However, the teachers formed pairs, so 2 teachers would have a similar schedule, be teaching the same grade books with the same students at the same time, so if a teacher was absent, their class got combined with their partnerā€™s class. I was paired with this guy who was constantly absent, so it was my work that was being constantly disrupted, and that is why I was not happy about this. Particularly as he would report absent just minutes before classes were scheduled to begin, so there was no chance to plan for these absences.

This teacher tended to be present one day, absent the next, though he would return from ā€˜being sickā€™ with a new haircut and having had his beard attended to by a barber.

In other words, they were all supportive of this teacher, but none of them was directly affected by his constant absences.

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Perhaps suggesting a change would have been better instead of complaining.

Like offering a suggestion to rotate pairs weekly or even monthly.

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I did suggest a change. Youā€™re speaking like you know all the details. I suggested that this teacher step back for a short while, in the hope that a reduced teaching load would provide him with a chance to recuperate. Rather than having separate classes and combining them when he was absent, just let me do the combined class consistently, creating stability for me and the students and giving him some rest.

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Youā€™re getting defensive, and starting to jump to conclusions.

I donā€™t know anything beyond what you have written. Iā€™m merely wondering about your story and offering suggestions.

Did you post your story here to ask for advice or to just to complain?

If all you want is to complain then Iā€™ve got nothing further to add.

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Whatever.

Glad you decide to edit that message. But I already saw it. No worries, I understand how it can feel to be misunderstood.

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Well, the one possible obstacle with this case is that the ā€œheā€ who insulted you was your colleague, not the owner. The court isnā€™t likely to be impressed by that, while the school can give the appearance of trying to be conciliatory. Just saying. Good luck.

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That public insult was just a key part of what unfolded. What you have to understand is that after I was insulted I was naturally upset (it was more the potential fallout that concerned me than the incident itself) the owners said I should go home, come up with what I wanted to be done, and send them my proposal. I did this, and the owner sent a message, in Chinese, saying that she, the teacher who swore at me, and her husband (co-owner), agreed with my proposal, a written warning for him, and that I was to come back and continue teaching the students.

It was when I went back that I was prevented from working without any explanation being given, and later, when I asked what was going on, the owners message changed from agreeing to my proposal to suddenly saying I had quit on my birthday. That clearly doesnā€™t make sense, given the messages that passed between us, and the reason they gave: ā€œYou took ALL your possessions homeā€ wonā€™t impress a judge. (In fact, there are numerous pieces of my personal property still in the school.)

After consulting with a lawyer, seems I can use the law about restricting a personā€™s freedom of movement against the teacher who forced me to leave the school. His actions will be on the cameras for the elevators and those cameras are operated by the building, not the school.

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I would say he is around the same age, physically anyway.

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Carnegies?

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Any update? @Hubert_Golightly

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I reported the two teachers to the police and I got a letter saying that New Taipei City have accepted my complaint and are investigating.

The teacher who played security and forced me out of the school has more to worry about. One wrinkle is that the school layout was that you come out of an elevator, thereā€™s a small public area, and then the school doors, which are opened from inside by the girls on reception. Well, this dude forced me out of the school entrance, but rather than stand there, he also physically intimidated me to the elevator doors, i.e. in a public area, where, clearly, I have a right to be. As the video of this is held by the building security, thereā€™s no way for the school to delete it. No matter what, I am going to sit both these teachers down in the district court for a year with a claim big enough to cause sleepless nights (500k +), and as they live way away from Tucheng, which is a nightmare to travel to, thereā€™s plenty of stress and disruption coming for them (I donā€™t live too far away from the court, thankfully). (I donā€™t even need a lawyer for this; I can just let the time run on until Iā€™m eligible once more for a free lawyer from the Legal Aid Foundation.)

I also applied for mediation and got my date in 3 weeks. Last time, for anyone who may be interested, I stupidly chose ā€œ3rd party mediation,ā€ and this meant mediation was outsourced; this time I chose the better option for workers, city employees doing the mediation. I asked for 350k, so weā€™ll see. Filed a ton of reports on these incidents, too, so theyā€™ll be getting plenty of visits in the coming weeks.

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Give em hell! And take care. Lotsa people, both locals and furriners sometimes get violent or try other fucked-up shit to cause trouble.

I can think of: drunken assault, false sexual harassment/assault claims from the local teachers who already sided with the other guys, damaging your scooter/motorcycle to cause an accident,ā€¦

In short, dont think these fuckers are gonna take it lying down. u obviously arent either, but be careful man!

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Let them try what they like. I canā€™t drive, so thereā€™s not too much to worry about on that front. Theyā€™re welcome to escalate. In fact, the last two incidents Iā€™ve been involved in, the trigger proved to be that I wouldnā€™t respond to provocation, and that saw the aggressor lose control; firstly, the landlordā€™s son started swinging punches when I declined to use force as he kept pushing me around, in this case, the co-worker, a horrible insincere loudmouth, didnā€™t get the reaction he wanted and dropped his F-bomb in front of the owners/staff.

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