A CHARITY worker at a suicide support group has claimed she tried to kill herself after being subjected to bullying by her boss.

Ann Marie Cocozza, a former project co-ordinator at Petal (People Experiencing Trauma and Loss), is suing the charity for unfair dismissal following her sacking after she raised a grievance against Joe Duffy, the charity's project director at the time.

Ms Cocozza, of Hamilton, claims Mr Duffy bullied and intimidated her, calling her a liar and a fantasist, and told her no-one likes her, that she "makes people sick" and should "sling her hook".

The worker, who became involved with the charity following the murder of her nephew in 2004, told an employment tribunal that things got so bad that she took an overdose of sleeping pills.

She claimed that when she later confronted Mr Duffy about his behaviour and told him of her attempted suicide, he told her: "What you do in your own time is nothing to do with me."

The tribunal heard that Ms Cocozza began working with the charity in October 2012 after being approached by Mr Duffy about potentially taking over his role as director on his retirement.

However, things soon turned sour between the pair and Ms Cocozza's probation period was extended, with Mr Duffy claiming she was not up to the job.

Ms Cocozza said she became "really distressed" by the director's behaviour towards her and claimed she heard tales of him acting the same way towards other members of staff.

She also said he boasted about being called a "w***er" and a bully by another worker. The co-ordinator decided to raise a grievance against him, but the charity rejected it.

When she was due to return to work following this, she received a text telling her there had been a problem with the door locks while she was off "so don't go in early because you won't get in".

She replied asking who it was and received a message back saying "Petal mobile".

Ms Cocozza said: "It was an indication of how things would be. There was no 'hi Ann Marie' or 'we're glad you're coming back'. I felt nothing was going to change and it triggered a real breakdown."

The next day she called in sick instead of going into work and she told the tribunal she took two or three sleeping pills and went to bed.

Breaking down in tears, she added: "When I woke up I had such a fantastic feeling of peace and I thought I can't take any more of this and it was as if I just floated into the kitchen and took all the other pills that were there, then I wrote a note. In the note I said I couldn't go on any more and I couldn't go back and take any more bullying. The next thing I remember I was in an ambulance being taken to hospital."

Ms Cocozza remained in hospital for three days before being discharged. She returned to work in September 2013 and had little contact with Mr Duffy until December that year when she fell and broke her ankle at work.

While she was recuperating, she received a letter from Petal stating that Mr Duffy had raised a grievance against her, but it had not been upheld. They were then both invited to a mediation session in January 2014.

Ms Cocozza's solicitor, Raymond Brown, asked if the mediation worked and she replied: "No, Mr Duffy thought it was a piece of nonsense and he didn't know why he was there. I said to him: 'You gave me such a hard time I ended up taking an overdose.'

"He said: 'What you do in your own time is nothing to do with me.' In the end he walked out."

Ms Cocozza, who claims she was treated badly by Petal because she blew the whistle on Mr Duffy's behaviour, tried to return to work in March last year but received an email telling her the position was no longer available due to a restructure. Mr Duffy was suspended at that time following other allegations of misconduct and left the organisation later that year.

Lawyer Martyn West, representing Petal, put it to Ms Cocozza that her probation was extended because Mr Duffy said she did not have the skills to do the job.

She replied: "That's exactly what he said, but he had no evidence to back it up." Mr West also said another member of staff had heard raised voices between her and Mr Duffy and Ms Cocozza's voice was the loudest. She replied: "I was nearer the door so my voice would have been louder."