Jade works in admin at Watkins & Co — Sarah’s 45-person accountancy practice across three sites. Last week she submitted a formal bullying complaint.
The person she’s complained about is Jamie. Sarah’s son.
Jamie has his mother’s confidence and his own ideas about how things should be done. Dismissing Jade in meetings. Excluding her from decisions. A pattern of behaviour that individually seems minor but collectively has become impossible to ignore.
Jade kept a diary. Six months of it. Dates, times, witnesses.
Sarah believes her. She also loves her son. And she cannot investigate this herself.
The answer is simple. She can’t. And she shouldn’t try.
✅ 3 REASONS YOU NEED AN INDEPENDENT INVESTIGATOR
1. Any investigation you lead yourself will be challenged — perceived bias is as damaging as actual bias.
2. Jade deserves a process she can trust — and so does Jamie.
3. A proper independent investigation protects Sarah, the business and the outcome.
At People Vision HR we handle the complicated ones — the cases where the relationships make everything harder and the stakes couldn’t be higher.
Before the family business becomes the bully.