My original post was here. I got a message asking if there are any updates - there actually are and it's positive overall so I figured I'd make a quick post.
So the basic jist of my original post is that I work with marginalised people including people dealing with street homelessness, I'm the "lived experience" guy so I feel a bit separate from a lot of my colleagues. During a cold snap, I had to wear a lot of layers to work and looked scruffier than usual. When I tried to come into the staff office, a colleague I hadn't worked with before mistook me for a client and dramatically shoo-ed me out the door. Which obviously felt Great. The service manager saw this happen and asked if I wanted to make a complaint.
What ended up happening... I did go ahead with the complaint - mainly because the way she acted when she thought I was a client made me concerned about how she treats actual clients. It was taken seriously and formally investigated. The process wasn't as stressful as I thought it would be, I feel like it was handled pretty well.
I feel like people kept getting stuck on the "me being mistaken for a client" part and not the "this lady thinks its fine to shoo clients" part. Like they were asking if an apology or a "mediation meeting" would help, I was honest and said an apology wouldn't mean a huge amount to me one way or another, I'm mostly just worried about her attitudes in general and as long as that's been looked into then I'm happy.
There was some discussion and some ideas suggested. I'd say the main outcome is that the service is going to be funding training for all staff on "unconscious bias". It's mandatory which I think is a good thing tbh - a lot of training is voluntary and generally speaking the people who choose to attend training on unconscious bias aren't the ones who most urgently need it. I also think it's the sort of thing that could be useful for absolutely anyone and I'm definitely including myself in that.
I have very little direct contact with the lady who shoo-ed me and as far as I can tell she's avoiding me which I have no problem with. Hopefully she finds the training useful?? Part of me is hoping we'll be booked on to the same session because I think the sheer level of awkwardness could be pretty interesting.
That's about it for an update. I'm currently half-dead from flu so my brain is working on v limited capacity, apologies if any of this doesn't make sense! And thanks for the supportive replies to my first post, it wasn't a very nice situation so it meant a lot to me!
Tl, Dr: a colleague mistook me for a client and shoo-ed me out of the office like a stray dog, my employers have taken it seriously and are providing training for the whole service.