Zakelijk, Arbeid, Schade
Particulier
Compensation from my former employer
I am a citizen of Kazakhstan and a former employee of one of the Dutch consulting companies.
I am very much in need of your legal advice or any assistance that you may provide with respect to my situation. In short, I want to claim compensation from my former Dutch employer for the caused harm. The details are described below.
I worked at the company from September 2019 to October 2020. During my work for this company, I was constantly exposed to humiliation, insults, screams and intimidation from my ex-boss. For instance, he constantly screamed at me over unjustified things, threatened to fire me, reproached for paying money, etc. (I can provide detailed examples of his toxic behaviour). As a result, I was constantly stressing, fearing my ex-boss and felt depressed. In October 2020, my nervous system couldn't handle the constant stress and fear anymore and I developed acute insomnia and anxiety. In particular, in October 2020, I could not sleep for almost three weeks and had severe anxiety, severe stress and fears. It was a vicious cycle – the more I could not sleep, the more anxiety I had, the more insomnia persisted. I contacted doctors (neuropathologist, psychologist and endocrinologist) and was prescribed with chemical tranquilizers and psychotherapy. I got scared of my condition and as a result, developed a psychological trauma and the phobia of insomnia (I worried that the same condition would be repeating in the future and I would not be able to work).
In view of my condition, I quit my employment at that company and was not able to work since October 2020 to March 2022. For more than a year I had burnout and apathy.
Unfortunately, after the lapse of one and a half years, I still cannot recover from this psychological trauma – the phobia of insomnia and developed post-traumatic stress disorder. As a result, I am now suffering from chronic/ periodic insomnia. This very badly influences my personal and professional life and depressing me.
I am fully aware and convinced that the reason and cause of my condition (the first acute insomnia taken place in October 2020 and subsequent phobia of insomnia) is due to the severe stress I was exposed to whilst working at the company (namely, the toxic behaviour of my ex-boss). Before my first acute insomnia in October 2020 I had never had any sleep issues at all.
I would also like to add that, in general, the ex-boss is notorious for his bad temper - there are bad reviews from the former employees on Glassdoor.com, my other colleagues also suffered from his toxic behaviour and I personally witnessed the cases when my colleagues cried at the work place, and there is very high staff turnover due to his behaviour and attitude.
In view of the above, I would like to claim the compensation for the durable and long-lasting harm caused by my former employer.
I kindly ask you to help me with my problem. Since I did not work all this time I do not have financial capacity to hire a paid lawyer or a mediator at this point of time (I just started work on 15 March and need to repay my debt which has been outstanding for long period in view of my unemployment).
Could you please provide me your answers for my following questions?
1. Can I submit a pretension directly to my former employer describing the situation and claiming the compensation?
2. If I cannot settle this issue directly with the former employer, will I be able to file an application with the Dutch court myself?
3. Which documents do I need in order to evidence and substantiate the case?
4. In case all these procedures must be done by a lawyer or a mediator (e.g. such a requirement is prescribed by law or for any other reason), would you be able to do so on my behalf?
Thank you in advance.
Best regards,
I am very much in need of your legal advice or any assistance that you may provide with respect to my situation. In short, I want to claim compensation from my former Dutch employer for the caused harm. The details are described below.
I worked at the company from September 2019 to October 2020. During my work for this company, I was constantly exposed to humiliation, insults, screams and intimidation from my ex-boss. For instance, he constantly screamed at me over unjustified things, threatened to fire me, reproached for paying money, etc. (I can provide detailed examples of his toxic behaviour). As a result, I was constantly stressing, fearing my ex-boss and felt depressed. In October 2020, my nervous system couldn't handle the constant stress and fear anymore and I developed acute insomnia and anxiety. In particular, in October 2020, I could not sleep for almost three weeks and had severe anxiety, severe stress and fears. It was a vicious cycle – the more I could not sleep, the more anxiety I had, the more insomnia persisted. I contacted doctors (neuropathologist, psychologist and endocrinologist) and was prescribed with chemical tranquilizers and psychotherapy. I got scared of my condition and as a result, developed a psychological trauma and the phobia of insomnia (I worried that the same condition would be repeating in the future and I would not be able to work).
In view of my condition, I quit my employment at that company and was not able to work since October 2020 to March 2022. For more than a year I had burnout and apathy.
Unfortunately, after the lapse of one and a half years, I still cannot recover from this psychological trauma – the phobia of insomnia and developed post-traumatic stress disorder. As a result, I am now suffering from chronic/ periodic insomnia. This very badly influences my personal and professional life and depressing me.
I am fully aware and convinced that the reason and cause of my condition (the first acute insomnia taken place in October 2020 and subsequent phobia of insomnia) is due to the severe stress I was exposed to whilst working at the company (namely, the toxic behaviour of my ex-boss). Before my first acute insomnia in October 2020 I had never had any sleep issues at all.
I would also like to add that, in general, the ex-boss is notorious for his bad temper - there are bad reviews from the former employees on Glassdoor.com, my other colleagues also suffered from his toxic behaviour and I personally witnessed the cases when my colleagues cried at the work place, and there is very high staff turnover due to his behaviour and attitude.
In view of the above, I would like to claim the compensation for the durable and long-lasting harm caused by my former employer.
I kindly ask you to help me with my problem. Since I did not work all this time I do not have financial capacity to hire a paid lawyer or a mediator at this point of time (I just started work on 15 March and need to repay my debt which has been outstanding for long period in view of my unemployment).
Could you please provide me your answers for my following questions?
1. Can I submit a pretension directly to my former employer describing the situation and claiming the compensation?
2. If I cannot settle this issue directly with the former employer, will I be able to file an application with the Dutch court myself?
3. Which documents do I need in order to evidence and substantiate the case?
4. In case all these procedures must be done by a lawyer or a mediator (e.g. such a requirement is prescribed by law or for any other reason), would you be able to do so on my behalf?
Thank you in advance.
Best regards,