Sexual Harassment: To tell or not to tell?

Question

I know I usually am on here to laugh and joke around, but I have a serious question today.

My boss sexually harassed a co-worker at an out-of-state work conference. The female co-worker confided in me. She wouldn't give me the details, but she called me crying that night and was crying at the next day's conference. I told her to go to HR and report him when she called me that night. She even flew home early. Again, I reiterated that she should go to HR. She said that she didn't want to and wanted to let it drop. Again, I said, you seem pretty upset by what happened, and I think you should go to HR.

The question is, do I report him? The female colleague doesn't work for either of us. I want to respect her wishes and not report him. My concerns are, one, I don't want to work with a sex pest, two, I don't want this to happen to anyone else, and three, I don't want to seem complicit in this. The female has asked me not to say anything. Our company doesn't have any policies on reporting sexual harassment. I also don't want to seem self-serving because I am probably next in line for his job.

What would you do?

***UPDATE*** The victim reported him on her own after some encouragement from her boss and the CSO.

Accepted Answer

100% report him. There’s a few times in your career when doing the right thing outweighs everything else. This isn’t a gray area. Make the call, make the report and be supportive of your colleague.

Answer

I think you have to report him. Keep the victim anonymous at all costs but people like that deserve a special place in hell.

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100000000% yes. Complete details or not, you can blow that whistle and let this fucko deal with the consequences. Even when you have a tip that amounts to nothing it's worth it to say something rather than let that person suffer.

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Gotta do the right thing mate👍🏻

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I think I would report because I care for my other colleagues' safety.

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You know what to do. No question.

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Didn't have to read the body of this post. Based on the title alone, report him. No brainer.

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I think you need to report them, your colleague may not like you but this is the right thing to do.  There is no need for that in the workplace or any place whatsoever.

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I had a similar situation. I got her to confide in a couple coworkers, and when all 5 of us told her to come forward she did. Dude got fired, we were all happy

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Yeah nah, fuck that guy. Run him in. Always keep an "I got fired for doing the right thing fund" though.   Some things are more important than the consequences to ourselves.

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Report him.

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+1 for reporting, it's the right thing to do.

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Report for 2 reasons:

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As pretty much everyone is saying, REPORT HIS ASS.

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definitely report. it may not go anywhere at first, HR is there to protect the company after all, but it could be important when compiled with other reports on the guy.

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It’s not a question. Report that fucker!

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Thank you for all the encouragement on this rough topic. I have been contacted by our legal team and been asked to come on and give a formal statement on anything I might have seen or been told by either party. I am complying fully and hope this guy is out for my colleagues safety.

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Repot him?! Call the cops!

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what a POS… report him!!!

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Count me in for report him.  There’s no place whatsoever for that behavior in the workplace.   There will be other victims, count on it.

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Echoing statements but you gotta tell.

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Tell always tell! If not, this can happen to you or someone else again. This is not acceptable and should never happen to anyone! If you need to talk to someone I’m always here!

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Things like this don’t drop. Go to HR before they try and figure out how to get rid of her first. Also, just kkow HR is “upper management” their main priroity is to still do whats best for the company. Depends on the company but thwir job is to know the ins and outs of employment laws. 
If it were me id say you can either fire the person now, or ill talk to my attorney or handle it myself. These things get my blood boiling.

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Fuck that guy. Report him and leave the victim anonymous. I don’t know how serious this incident was but I’ve seen HR need a pattern in order to take action. If you don’t and it happens again, there is no record of anything.

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tell

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Glad she reported him. At some companies, it is in the policy if a leader knows of something like this, its their duty to report it--even just a hearsay.

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please report him! I've been in that girl's shoes and it is not fun.

DataSlangah

Sexual Harassment: To tell or not to tell?

29 comments

DataSlangah

Sexual Harassment: To tell or not to tell?

29 comments

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