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“Women Are Designed To Serve And Obey”: Sexist Boss Gets What He Deserves When Employee Humiliates Him In Front Of The CEO
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“Women Are Designed To Serve And Obey”: Sexist Boss Gets What He Deserves When Employee Humiliates Him In Front Of The CEO

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There’s no excuse for sexism in the workplace. And you’d think that members of the older generation would know to be gentlemen and to treat women with respect. Unfortunately, the opposite seems to be true in some companies.

Redditor u/dracula912 shared a story about how his 21-year-old niece quit her job with a bang. Or rather, a slap! The young woman had gotten a job as a secretary at a tax and accounting firm. However, there were plenty of red flags from day one.

Her boss, the managers, and coworkers were extremely sexist, patronizing, and dismissive. Things came to a head during one meeting when her boss put a hand on her shoulder while explaining that she needed to be “more compliant” at work. She couldn’t take it anymore. Scroll down for the full story, dear Pandas.

A 21-year-old secretary had to deal with constant sexism and harassment from her older male colleagues

Image credits: Sam Edwards (not the actual photo)

Things came to a head during one work meeting when she decided that enough was enough

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Image credits: dracula912

When you read the entire story, you wonder how anyone could ever thrive or even survive in such a toxic workplace. The people there are horrid. And HR seems to be more interested in protecting the company than the actual employees being harassed.

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However, quite a few redditors stressed the fact that what the secretary did to her boss—slapping him and screaming at him as she quit—could potentially backfire in the future. Namely, she has potentially left herself open to a lawsuit.

What’s more, she should speak to a lawyer about the sexual harassment she endured and the overtime pay that she missed out on.

Earlier, life coach Lindsay Hanson pointed out to Bored Panda that each of us is individually responsible for setting the boundaries at work that we’re willing to tolerate. If HR turns a blind ear to our criticism about our colleagues, you can still try talking to management directly about the issues that you have.

“If you feel that there’s nothing you can do to change the situation and the company or people involved are unwilling to change, then you have to decide whether you’re willing to stay in that environment or not,” the expert said.

Lindsay stressed that it’s up to us to decide if we should leave or stay and try to change the company from the inside, for the better. “A good question to ask yourself is, even if this toxic situation were to change, would I still want to work here?”

According to her, there’s always a way out of toxic situations, even if we feel pressured financially or otherwise. “There are still companies hiring. There are still ways to make money on your own. There is always a way to change your current situation—telling yourself you’re stuck feels very limiting.”

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Here’s how people reacted to the story on r/AskReddit. Some of them had some important advice to share

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bp_10 avatar
WilvanderHeijden
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Parents need to step up and start teaching boys to respect women as their equals. Even in this day I see parents smiling proudly when their 5 year old son tries to force a girl to kiss him. "Oh, how cute.... Boys will be boys." And the guys harassing women should ask themselves the question: "Would I still think this is acceptable if someone did or say the same things to my sister or daughter?"

benlensgraf avatar
tmarek13 avatar
just me
Community Member
2 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I wonder if she could claim self defense for the slap, though. A man who has made several sexual comments, propositioned her, stolen her wages, was standing behind her while holding her down and saying she should be more compliant. I would think a good lawyer could make the case that she felt threatened enough to need to discourage further predatory behavior.

imogenecargeaux avatar
Imogene Cargeaux
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

She could. We actually just learned about a case in school similar to this. The woman was being sexually harassed and the boss would often touch her and grope her sometimes. he had a history of doing this with all of the young women and there were rumors of sexual assault and a clear pattern in his abuse, there was always physical contact from him. not super sexual but grazing their backs, touching their hair, shoulders, once he "accidentally" groped her butt etc. because it was paired w/ the verbal harassment n she slapped him she was able to claim self defense. It wasn't because she feared for her life but she feared she was going to be sexually assaulted. I can't remember what state it was in so obviously this may not apply to Oklahoma. But the woman n the other women in their workplace were able to sue n they did win n she was not charged with assault because they ruled that it was in response to him putting hands on her first. So there is a way for her to still get justice.

Load More Replies...
paulclarey avatar
Paul C.
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I had a manager once who used to make inappropriate comments to some of the younger female phone advisors. He would also put his hand on their shoulders or arms, for just that little bit too long. I know this because a couple of them would talk to me about it when they bought letters into the post room I worked in. One night there was a works get together in a local bar. He was all over the young girls like a rash. I went over to him and all the while with the biggest smile on my face, whispered to him that if I ever caught him pulling that sh#t again I would, how shall I put it? Persuade him to change his ways. I laughed very loudly and slapped him, rather hard, on the back. I often left post-it notes on his desk with inspirational messages like, Be Good :-). I'm quite a big bloke and it seemed to work because the young ladies said he, for some reason, wasn't as cringy as he had been in the past.

Load More Comments
bp_10 avatar
WilvanderHeijden
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Parents need to step up and start teaching boys to respect women as their equals. Even in this day I see parents smiling proudly when their 5 year old son tries to force a girl to kiss him. "Oh, how cute.... Boys will be boys." And the guys harassing women should ask themselves the question: "Would I still think this is acceptable if someone did or say the same things to my sister or daughter?"

benlensgraf avatar
tmarek13 avatar
just me
Community Member
2 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I wonder if she could claim self defense for the slap, though. A man who has made several sexual comments, propositioned her, stolen her wages, was standing behind her while holding her down and saying she should be more compliant. I would think a good lawyer could make the case that she felt threatened enough to need to discourage further predatory behavior.

imogenecargeaux avatar
Imogene Cargeaux
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

She could. We actually just learned about a case in school similar to this. The woman was being sexually harassed and the boss would often touch her and grope her sometimes. he had a history of doing this with all of the young women and there were rumors of sexual assault and a clear pattern in his abuse, there was always physical contact from him. not super sexual but grazing their backs, touching their hair, shoulders, once he "accidentally" groped her butt etc. because it was paired w/ the verbal harassment n she slapped him she was able to claim self defense. It wasn't because she feared for her life but she feared she was going to be sexually assaulted. I can't remember what state it was in so obviously this may not apply to Oklahoma. But the woman n the other women in their workplace were able to sue n they did win n she was not charged with assault because they ruled that it was in response to him putting hands on her first. So there is a way for her to still get justice.

Load More Replies...
paulclarey avatar
Paul C.
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I had a manager once who used to make inappropriate comments to some of the younger female phone advisors. He would also put his hand on their shoulders or arms, for just that little bit too long. I know this because a couple of them would talk to me about it when they bought letters into the post room I worked in. One night there was a works get together in a local bar. He was all over the young girls like a rash. I went over to him and all the while with the biggest smile on my face, whispered to him that if I ever caught him pulling that sh#t again I would, how shall I put it? Persuade him to change his ways. I laughed very loudly and slapped him, rather hard, on the back. I often left post-it notes on his desk with inspirational messages like, Be Good :-). I'm quite a big bloke and it seemed to work because the young ladies said he, for some reason, wasn't as cringy as he had been in the past.

Load More Comments
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