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Sexual Harassment

I am a receptionist, and there is one customer who annoys me. He asks about my personal life, and he keeps asking me to go to Las Vegas with him. I have told him I'm not interested, but he persists. When I told my manager, he said I should try to be friendly to him because he is a good customer. Do I have to put up with this from a customer?



You do not have to put up with this from anyone, including your customer or your manager. Your customer is targeting you for unwanted sexually oriented attention, and your manager is aware of it and is practically condoning it, and they are both wrong. By telling your manager about it, you have technically advised the company, and the company has failed to take swift action to stop it. It is time for these dinosaurs to wake up and smell the twenty-first century.

Although you can seek outside help, your best step is still to try to solve the matter within the company first. If your company lacks appropriate procedures, that is yet another strike against it. In such a case, you should consider approaching a member of senior management or the human resources department if your company has one. It can also be helpful to document what has happened here, as well as have a witness, since you may encounter a string of predictable denials and counter-claims. If you take these steps and do not see appropriate internal action, you should consider external action.




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