Please read post for full context; any help or input is appreciated! I disclosed sensitive info to a close female coworker (let’s say Ann), who is best friends with the male coworker mentioned (Ned). I’m sure she told him, but then they both seemed to want me to still tell him directly. I did because I believe in doing the right thing, and Ann also was a huge help for something relating to my info, even though I strongly did not want this secret to spread. Ned kept it secret; however, I detest how he started feeling like he had the upper hand and could manipulate me like a puppet to do stupid intern shit for him like repeatedly printing files, including evenings and even attempted to reach me on the weekend by text. I ignored and replied from my work email the next Monday. I could see in his eyes that he had romantic thoughts about me which is largely what made all of this sickening. Ann also went behind my back to tell my private business to one of our other coworkers, who is extremely judgmental and tough on people, and even he did not exploit it - leading us to actually become much closer and respect each other.
What pissed me off the most was when Ned - and Ann - ganged up and tried coercing me into letting him drop me off at home on a Saturday night after I reluctantly made sacrifices in my schedule to meet with them two - choosing to ignore my multiple clear “NO” about the ride as I preferred public transportation. I was having a panic attack in his car while they just relentlessly and repeatedly egged me on, thinking they could break me. They finally let up after going back and forth, and I went home by public transpo.
Ned went to a different team so we didn’t talk for months. I then updated everyone in a mass email about my leaving the overall group, and that’s when he called. Again, he waited until evening - after work hours - to call me. I instantly feel disgusted as it took me back to that traumatic experience. Why can’t he just get the hint and drop it? I did not reach out to him directly to update him, even though it is related to the original sensitive info, because I do not want to talk or encourage anything! I do not want to keep in touch with someone who completely disregarded my preferences and basically nearly kidnapped me. I have no interest in him platonically, romantically, or professionally. Should I call back, text, email from my soon-to-expire work address, email from my personal address, or ignore him? I’m afraid it’ll still bug me if I ignore. I also want to be on good terms with Ann (she has some connections where I’m heading to and I fear she’ll retaliate), even if she doesn’t understand what went wrong and no one has apologized since that incident.
Report it to HR and ignore both of them, or if you really feel a need to make an effort to communicate with either of them, respond from your professional email and say, “I would prefer if we keep our interactions professional” and leave it at that.
If that’s not enough of a hint for them, you definitely need to escalate with HR.
Thank you so much for your advice. I was really hoping I wouldn’t have to come back to this post but there have been recent developments and not good ones. I like your advice to reply from my work email address and ultimately did so. Thankfully he ignored, and then I left the firm, thinking that was it. I did meet with Ann since I kept delaying a proper thank you and felt she still deserved that for helping me out. I briefly mentioned that in an ideal world, I would’ve had calls with more people before leaving, and that in reality I wanted to keep it very low-key so it was unnecessary for people to keep reaching out especially when I wasn’t even that close to them. She immediately took this as some sort of reference that it was ok for Ned specifically to call me AGAIN and I know she blabbed every detail to him as well as the other tough coworker in my post (let’s say Al). She asked if I called Al before leaving and I said yes and did that due to: 1) Al respectfully and explicitly suggested it well in advance, 2) I like and respect him, 3) we were working on the same project - none of which I can say about Ned. So Ned not only called me in the morning the next day which is a holiday - he had the audacity to FaceTime me. And why the fuck is he not sending a text or email at all? Why the fuck does he think he can just call out of the blue, especially after I have left the firm and have given the cold shoulder multiple times? The reason this is bothering me so much is that I want to be on good terms in case I go back to that line of work at some point. And they are all a toxic as shit package deal - Ned complains to Ann who spreads the word to all their little sycophants including this previous member of the group who left before me but is very well-connected and I fear she will snitch on me to a potential future company in the same profession. What should I do now? It is causing me anguish and I want to keep options open, however can I do that by ignoring him and can someone jeopardize someone else’s job offer with slander??
Ignore or if you must reach out some way, then through the work email keeping it professional.
Thank you for your advice. I liked your suggestion and did exactly this, even including a more distant salutation and explicitly saying “Farewell” whereas in my mass email to the whole group, I stated this isn’t Farewell. He ignored my email thankfully, however he has called me again recently after I met Ann to thank her for her help. What are your thoughts on the new developments described in my response to Aphelion above? This is so uncomfortable and I feel trapped!
Sounds like a tough situation to be in. Next option is to be clear and upfront that you want to keep the relationship professional. If that is still ignored, I say ignore the person. There isn’t much you can do about the actions they decide to take. All you can do it control your own actions and explain your side of the situation if needed. Document anything that you may feel relative to proving your attempt to kept things professional. Best of luck.
Thank you! How should I phrase it to be professional yet assertive? I admittedly sometimes sound “nice” when I’m trying to set boundaries but clearly that hasn’t been working with him and he does not seem to respect me.
“No, thank you. And I wish that you refrain from contacting me again/about this or similar things.”
Thank you for your advice. I want to so badly but I’m so afraid they will retaliate and slander my name especially because I’m not sure what my next career steps are and that could jeopardize future opportunities in the same line of work. What are your thoughts on the new developments described in my response to Aphelion above? This is so uncomfortable and I feel trapped!
Block his number, and report him to HR immediately
I wouldn’t block the number, to keep gathering evidence if any comes, but I 100% agree with reporting to HR. And the police. Depending on the details, you being in his car and them refusing your explicit request to be free of the situation may have been a crime.
It’s unlikely that anything will happen to him, but having a police report on file will (a) be a useful piece of information to have recorded objectively, if in the future he does anything else to you or someone else (b) be a deterrent; it will dramatically increase your safety if he knows that you’re okay with involving the law to protect yourself against him.
He’ll probably be upset, if it goes anywhere. Fuck him. That’s a tactic to put pressure on to discourage you from protecting yourself.
Is it possible this could change the severity of the reactions, such as HR and police involvement? The car was parked and I technically could have bailed in the middle of their sentence, so it wasn’t like they were forcefully shackling me or operating a moving vehicle. Any legal professionals able to comment? At any rate, that is exactly what he is doing - feeding toxic culture by snitching to Ann that I ignored whatever attempt he did to reach me again - and then she went and told our other coworker that I mentioned. Unbelievable, toxic culture.
Yeah. 😢 IDK what to tell you about the toxic culture or how to navigate it.
Probably based on the details you described, it’s not a crime and maybe better to leave it alone… IDK. Maybe good to get some feedback from people closer to the situation? It just sounds creepy as hell.
Always always leave a trail when possible. Email would be the best bet for an audit trail. After calling / conversatin, do a follow-up email to keep the audit trail and confirming what was discussed
I am so uncomfortable because of the new developments! He not only called but Facetimed me, and obviously does not want to have a trail. I am glad he ignored the reply I sent back via work email at the time but I thought that was it and he has resurfaced. What are your thoughts on the new developments described in my response to Aphelion above? This is so uncomfortable and I feel trapped!
I am probably not the best for advice, this harrasment needs nipped imo and consulting a lawyer seems like a good idea. I think it’d help having legal documentation in case it worsens. If they try to hurt your reputation then you have legal backup to sue and get a restraining order if it gets worse. They probably can help not going nuclear first too.
Please stay safe.
