WEEK 205 Kung Fu Panda

Maybe it’s just Christmas sentiment, but it’s been a strange old week.

Having given up on employment law paralegal training and having lost the battle for getting my workplace bullying book published this side of Christmas, I contented myself with buying the Radio Times, circling the movies I’m going to watch and stocking up on festive food.

I thought it was all winding down until my boss called me into his office. ‘I’m taking you to the Employment Tribunal tomorrow’ he said. He wanted me to take notes in a fascinating case.

I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

On the one hand, the idea of watching my boss defend an employer accused of bullying at Tribunal after everything I went through with Howard was weird. On the other hand, I’d long wondered what it was like there. I’d visited vicariously through the tales of our lawyers and through hundreds of typed attendance notes. To go there would be like some sort of priceless workplace bullying research trip.

Tribunals are public, of course, so I could have gone at any point, but this meant I was familiar with the case and all the people involved. It was a backstage pass to the theatre.

The next day, I curled my hair and polished my shoes. I took my best handbag.

At the Tribunal, the hearings were running late. ‘We’ll grab a coffee’ my boss said. Ten minutes later, I was perched on a chair in Costa coffee as my boss went to the counter. ‘I got this for you too’, he said, returning with a neat slice of Christmas cake. I felt a crushing sense of guilt. If he knew how deep my interest ran in workplace bullying I guess he’d be throwing that cake at me, let alone offering me a guided tour of the Employment Tribunal.

He chatted about interesting employment cases he’d been involved in and told me about his family. It was the first time we’d talked properly. He’s a genuinely nice guy with the most interesting legal background.

Back at the Tribunal, sat in the Respondents’ waiting room, my thoughts were on the Claimants sat on the other side of the wall. I took in everything.

The Pre-Hearing Review we attended was every bit as interesting as promised. The Judge was patient with the Claimant who was representing herself. In fact, the Employment Judge reminded me of a GP, objectively listening to a range of symptoms and writing a prescription for how to manage and treat the case from thereon in the run up to the final hearing in the New Year.

Afterwards, my boss took me for lunch. He asked how long I’d been working for him. Making small talk, he asked whether I still had any contact with anyone from my previous firm. I almost laughed. He’s forgotten that I arrived almost two years ago without references and so shut down that I barely spoke.

‘So what did you think?’ he asked of my trip to the Tribunal. I told him how interesting I’d found it. ‘You think that was interesting?’ he asked. ‘That was dull compared to some of them. I’ll take you to some big cases!’

It’s by far my most surreal day of 2011. In a year where nothing worked out like I wanted, it left me with the feeling that I’m still on the right track.

As Oogway says in Kung Fu Panda: ‘There are no accidents’.

That’s one film I’ll be watching over Christmas.

Best wishes

BBTB