I don't know the whole situation, but it sound like it took a lot for you to speak up and be assertive. I'm sure it was unexpected behavior in that people were used to you being a doormat. That doesn't make you a bully, though. It means you are getting boundaries and it upsets people around you. They would rather that you stay the same because they liked you better when they could manipulate you. Have you been checked for NMH and POTS? I have those two diseases along with CFS and they cause syncope. I think it would be worth getting a tilt table blood pressure test if you have not had one. It would see if your blood pressure drops upon standing. Don't confuse this with low blood pressure. Your BP could even be high, but NMH and POTS could cause a rapid drop which could make you faint. Anyway, enough about medical stuff. I am so sorry you spent the last few days this way. Hold tight.

Anyone who makes claims like that against someone who keeps having to be taken off to hospital because they are really ill is going to look like an awful person - it will reflect really badly on them. Also it sounds very defensive - they are reporting you to deflect from you speaking up.

As much as you can try not to worry. It's just a label and it's not going to stand up to scrutiny.

Is it worth getting a lawyer involved? - I think these people need to start worrying that they could be sued for making your health worse!

Is there any way you can get out of this work situation? it sounds awful?

That's a strategy as old as the hills...attack someone, then claim that they attacked you. Little kids do that all the time.

Of course you're not a bully. But you've got them on the run, and they're fighting back. It's something you should expect when you stand up to people. They usually don't just say..."Oh, I'm sorry I wronged you."

You've got to ditch your "doormat" thinking and stop questioning yourself whenever someone says a harsh word to you. I have had a lot of trouble with this concept, since I was trained to be everyone's doormat and punching bag in my family. They didn't actually hit me that much, it was the emotional pounding that really did me in.

It's very humbling to admit to ourselves that other people have been walking all over us. But it's a necessary start to learning how to deal with bullies and browbeaters.

This is office politics, which can be a rough game to play. But you can win at it...just be persistent and firm...and maybe hire a lawyer at some point if it comes to that. Let your persecutors be the ones who experience fear.

Thank you all for your lovely words - I will check out those medical conditions when I next visit my GP . Im going to try talk it through with this person and make the assumption that its an expression of opinion, if however they decided they want to make this claim more formal I am going to get legal assistance and go for them with both barrels, every tiny bit of my precious energy is going to fight this. I have been made very unwell by them NOT the other way around. Im a very frightened and I know thats what they want, I have struggled to cope and each hour that passes towards returning to work makes me feel a little sicker.

I don't know much about your situation, whether you work for a big corporation, small business, are an independent contractor or what you said to someone else or what they said to you. So I can't judge if you are a bully but doubt it.

I worked for a large corporation and the office politics were brutal. I didn't even say anything to anyone at all confrontational but they wanted to get rid of me I believe for bottom line reasons. If you have been sick a lot, that would be a reason to get rid of you.

This devolved into many months of not speaking to my boss and both of us slamming doors, talk about stressful, it was terrible and I didn't have CFS at the time.

I was to have a performance review with the guy that wanted me to go and my attorney advised me to have a witness present. I told them this and arranged for the witness and that blew up all their plans, probably to fire me. I had told my boss previously that I would be glad to leave with one year salary as severance, he laughed at that saying nobody gets that.

So I was referred to their attorney, whew, and told him I was planning to file for harassment and walked out with my desired severance.

You have to have nerves of steel to do this, I acted as if I had those nerves but it took a terrible toll on me and probably contributed to later getting CFS.

Just think about what you are doing in a logical way, you need a reason for legal action and you may be hospitalized a few more times if you choose this path.

The people who got ahead in the company, or at least kept their jobs, were the ones who kept their heads down and were quiet. So if you really need this job you maybe should grovel your way back. Your health is at stake.

I am not going to grovel whether I need a job or not, for something I simply didn't do. I have been sick, that is not a crime. They have failed me on many counts and contributed to my sickness. I need to muster the strength and get out. I know I cannot go back to the same job/ department - its killing me

That sounds like a good decision to get out. It's so important that we are in the right environment to recover. Hugs

Some people don't have the luxury of just quitting their job, so you are lucky.

You may think it's not fair for a company to penalize someone for being sick but it happens every day. Again, I don't know what kind of firm you work for.

I've seen no evidence here that you're anything but considerate. How are things going today? I'm sorry to read you felt so very low.