Abuse from my manager (Government role)
Hi guys. Bit of a weird one here.
I work in the health sector for a state government. I was working under a manager who, in the past, has thrown things at me, slammed doors, and written nasty emails (yay, email trails), and honestly, the list goes on. Admittedly, these things sound a little worse in writing than in reality, although they are true.
At the time, I reached out to HR and wrote 7 separate reports against him with email proof, statements from other colleagues/witnesses, etc. HR were 'investigating', but at the same time the manager went on stress leave / workers compensation due to the stress of the role he was in. Around that time, the last conversation with HR was "Well, he's left, so does that help", to which I said "yes".
It's been over 5 years and we have heard he is returning in a few weeks to trial back in the role. When I first heard about the posibility of him returning I immediately reached out to HR again to voice my concerns from previous events as they weren't addressed, but rather "the source of my woes were removed", but now he's coming back, I do not feel easy. I am not the only one in the workplace - more than 8 others have voiced concerns about this manager.
Not only do I feel it's unfair for me and my colleagues to be in the same environment with this person, but I even voiced my concerns for the wellbeing of this manager for being back in the same role that caused his workplace injury and stress. To add insult to injury (no pun intended), he also tried to sue some of the other heads of department that he will be working under on his return.
This is clearly not okay. I'm stressed, anxious, angry, disappointed, and quite frankly scared to be back in the same work environment as this monster. I don't know if I need legal advice; maybe I need to vent. I guess my question is:
What are my options?
How can I escalate this to be properly investigated?