I'm not really sure what I am hoping to happen by telling my story... anyway... here it goes:
I am a hospice nurse and I love my job. Several months ago, one of the chaplains (male) requested oral sex from me. It was shocking, embarrassing and honestly, I became physically ill after I removed myself from the situation. Immediately after this happened, I reported what he had said to me, in writing, to my manager. As far as I know, nothing has happened or changed in regards to this chaplain.
Since this incident, I have begun to show signs of increased anxiety and depression. I have trouble sleeping, I have trouble getting out of bed, I have trouble leaving the house. I am currently working with a psychiatrist.
Two months ago, I decided my mental health was more important and I changed from working in Home Care and moved to the Inpatient hospice in order to get away from this chaplain and from my boss who doesn't seem to care about what I was going through. Now, this same chaplain has been "filling in" and taking "on call" for other chaplains in my organization. This means there is a very real possibility he could show up to the Inpatient center any time. The thought of being around him again only increased my anxiety. I told my new boss about what had occurred. My new boss is supportive and I do feel like she is on my side.
HR has been dodging me. They won't return my phone calls. HR said they were launching a "full investigation" and two weeks later asked me if I "had calmed down enough to accept an apology" from this chaplain. I was offended and said I did not want to be in the same room with him ever again. HR promised me a phone call on Monday and I have not heard from them. I left messages with my HR representative.
Thoughts on my next steps -
IF HR continues to take no action, I am considering filing a formal ethics complaint with the Board of Chaplaincy. I will hire a lawyer to help me with the process as it is very involved and I would be interviewed multiple times through the process.
I think the only way I would NOT file this ethics complaint is if HR bans him from my unit and makes him pay for some kind of sensitivity training. (I don' think this is going to happen).
