Bullied As An Apprentice

by Jordan
(United Kingdom)

I started an apprenticeship at an engineering firm in 1998 at a place where my mother also worked, my first few years went without a hitch working onsite with other service engineers, but one day it was decided I would work on one type of machinery and would work with two younger engineers who were experts on this particular type of machinery.

From that moment on my life was made a living hell, name calling and bulling. Also one of the engineers I was working with knew me as a child and I was very overweight as a child which led to other jibes including abuse about getting a vasectomy because I was that useless.

For another 4 years I spent dreading getting up and going to work but as I had a home and gf to support I was terrified of quitting or leaving my job and being unable to pay my mortgage.

When my work started to slip and the only two people I could call for help were my worst enemies, my employer arranged a disciplinary meeting to discuss my "poor performance", I broke down in tears and told my employer the situation that the people that were meant to be nurturing me were really bullying me and setting me up on regular occasions and laughing behind my back but the only solution was to move me to a different area.

I felt trapped and alone as every engineer seemed to support the 2 people in question which I feel maybe down to the fact my mother was very disliked within the company.

In 2007 I finally left the company and took the first job I could find which was a lot less money and more hours, gf left me and I nearly lost my house as I was struggling to keep up repayments but I battled on slowly moving up the ladder getting a better job and pay and a new gf which I now have a beautiful baby boy to, but now in 2011 after four years do I feel confident enough to report or even talk about the issue.

I spoke to a solicitor about the issue but because I wasn't diagnosed with depression and just had time off with work related stress and the bullying happened between 2001 and 2006 they wont go near a case for me, this greatly upsets me as I feel the most important years of my working life, the ones that were meant to set me up were ruined by two idiots and although I love my life now I feel I'm 7 years behind where I should be because of this abuse and although compensation would but nice I feel these ignorant bullies are left to carry on their reign of terror and there really is no happy ending when it comes to bulling.