My colleague has repeated shown inappropriate behavior towards the young female part-timers, typically aged between 16 and 19. His actions include:
- Frequently positioning himself near these individuals without work-related reasons.
- Overtly scanning their bodies by visibly moving his head up and down.
- Using manipulative tactics, such as asking them to buy drinks, to obtain their phone numbers under the pretense of reimbursing them.
- Sending unsolicited text messages in the early mornings and at random times during the day to ask about their activities.
- He came by on his off days just to watch the part-timers work, literally just standing there and staring at them.
- He asked to borrow a power plug from one of the part-timers and even said he could come near their house to pick it up. Seriously?
My part-timers told me about his behavior and the constant texting, they were also afraid of telling him off. So as their supervisor, I had to step in.
So I reported to his direct supervisor. So his supervisor secretly held a meeting with the affected part-timers. While one was being interviewed regarding the issue, my colleague coincidentally texted her again, demonstrating the ongoing nature of the behavior.
Despite these reports and clear patterns of his behavior, only a verbal warning was issued. The colleague has since continued his behavior and it’s disappointing to see nothing was done to curb this issue.
Have any of you have such colleagues? What did your company do to them?
Responses:
Honestly had similar experiences like the ones you listed (more than a decade plus ago when I was still a teen) but it escalated to something more serious where the creep would straight out “hug” me for no reason at all, and be very touchy. There were instances when he would hug me from the back unexpectedly and this wasn’t just a one-time thing; it became more and more and I really started to dread working with him.
The tipping point was when I started having nightmares and had a full-on breakdown when it was my day off and my mum as well as ex were very concerned. I didn’t disclose anything to them prior to that breakdown because I felt ASHAMED and SCARED.
To those who think those unsolicited early morning texts are NORMAL. They are NOT NORMAL. There are varying degrees of how “comfortable” one can be, and if the girls find them unpleasant, DO NOT INVALIDATE THEIR FEELINGS.
Thank you OP, for standing up for them. You reminded me of my then-supervisor who immediately informed HR and that creep was given notice and also transferred out with a warning.
I truly hope that for your case, this creep will really be given disciplinary action because things can really escalate further.