Female employees in a Baha hospital accuse boss of abusing them

Saudi Gazette report AL-BAHA — A number of female social workers in King Fahd government hospital here have accused their direct boss of abusing and badmouthing them, according to local daily Al-Madina. They asked the Ministry of Health to constitute a neutral committee from outside the department of health affairs in the region to investigate the case. They said their direct boss, who was not identified, was talking inappropriately to them and was always abusing them. “Our boss has exceeded all limits. He even raised his hand to slap me in the face and is always using shameful language when talking to us,” one of them said. She did not want to be named. The women said they filed a complaint at the ministry after the director of health affairs in the region refused to listen to them. They claimed that the director not only refused to receive them but has transferred them against their wishes to other hospitals in the region. A female social worker, who identified herself with her first initials as A.S, said her boss attempted more than once to physically attack her and was always abusing her. “He accused me of not coming to work though I come every day to the hospital early in the morning and leave only at the end of the working day,” she said. She said she was transferred to another hospital and added that she resorted to the local media after the concerned officials refused to listen to her complaint. She alleged that a committee from the department of health affairs and the hospital, which investigated the case did not do her justice. “I live away from home. I have suffered a lot. I hope that the ministry will do me justice and will be fair to me,” she said. H.Z, another social worker who was transferred to a hospital in Makkah region, said the boss was not only abusing them but was also doubting their manners and trying to plant seeds of dissension among them. “The boss was maltreating the female employees and was dealing with them in a very strange manner,” she said. F.A, said the boss was annoying her and always raising his voice when talking to her. She said she complained to the executive director of the hospital but that did not solve her problem. She said the medical director transferred her to another department in the hospital but the boss, who was not happy with the decision, made efforts with the department of health affairs until she was transferred to Al-Aqeeq hospital. “I was shocked by my transfer especially after I had rented a house in Al-Baha and paid six months in advance. I enrolled my children in schools there,” she said. The woman said she went to the director of health affairs to stop the transfer but he refused to see her or listen to her complaint.