Books take us to places we’ve never been, they teach us about our world, and they help us to understand human experience.” Below we look at how to deal with a malicious grievance at work, either as an employer or senior employee, and what steps can be taken to minimise the impact of such vexatious complaints. In some cases, the person against whom the false complaint has been made may themselves choose to raise a grievance against the original complainant that will require investigation. I utterly believed in the residents of Beartown, and felt ripped apart by the events in the book' Jojo Moyes on Beartown

It’s hard to care about people. Exhausting, in fact, because empathy is a complicated thing. It requires us to accept that everyone else’s lives are also going on the whole time. We have no pause button for when everything gets too much for us to deal with, but then neither does anyone else.” Even if the complaint has been made maliciously, this may simply be a warning shot to the falsely accused perpetrator(s) of the intention on the part of the complainant to stir up trouble for them, or as a way of that individual ‘flexing their proverbial muscles’. In such cases, where the complainant is not looking to pursue their false or unfounded accusations any further, it may be possible to deal with the matter on an informal basis. Under UK data protection laws, you have the right to request access to information about you that is held on file. This could include evidence relating to a grievance made against you at work, although your employer can refuse to disclose any document that would also reveal information about a third party, and that party has asked for this to be kept anonymous.

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It's so easy to get people to hate one another. That's what makes love so impossible to understand. Hate is so simple that it always ought to win. It's an uneven fight.”In some cases, where a finding is made against the complainant, this may warrant instant dismissal, for example, where there is clear evidence that a complaint was dishonest. This type of behaviour would clearly breach the implied duty of trust and confidence between an employer and employee, such that this amounted to gross misconduct. That said, even where summary dismissal is deemed appropriate, a fair disciplinary process should still be followed.