8 ms·

* Say no. * Forward copies of emails to the company's leadership/HR department. * Keep printed copies of the emails handy in case he decides to retaliate with

• MollyR 12y ago
  This is the best advice I've seen. Also I'd like to add,if you can don't escalate to a lawsuit prematurely. A lot of companies avoid hiring a person who files lawsuits against corporations. Its unfair, but its how the real world works. HR exists to protect the company not its people. I know I mention this a lot on HN, but also read Corporate Confidential to understand how American Corporations and HR really works.
  • AnimalMuppet 12y ago
    It seems to me that informing HR, and telling him no (and why) is enough. I most certainly would not initiate a lawsuit over something like this. It was inappropriate and unprofessional; don't respond with something over the top, which is unprofessional in a different way. But I'm male, and have literally never been harassed at work over anything (not gender, age, race, religion, sexual orientation, facial hair, choice of editor... nothing), so what do I know?
    • ihsw 12y ago
      Indeed, I'm not advocating filing a lawsuit, however notifying his employer of the situation does carry risk of retaliation.
      • marrs 12y ago
        She's already lost the job and it's not like they're going to publicise her grievance. I really can't see what risk there is to her of raising the issue. If I was her I'd also ask for their company policy on this sort of behaviour.
• beenpoor 12y ago
  Seriously ? All for asking her on a date ? I don't see any harassment or any kind of quid pro quo. Mistakes happen all the time.
  • pm90 12y ago
    Its not a mistake, he admits in the email that what he's doing is not OK.
    • beenpoor 12y ago
      @pavel_lishin - You bring an important point and after thinking about it, I agree with you. For company's sake, HR should be involved to caution him.
  • pavel_lishin 12y ago
    He wasted the time of a potential employee, and made her feel very uncomfortable with unprofessional behavior. Plus, he admitted that what he was doing was wrong - presumably against company policy, as well as in general being a shitty thing to do. From a pure "what's good for the company" consideration alone, at the very least someone from HR needs to have another talk to him about what's acceptable or not - he could be driving away other potential employees, and setting the company up for lawsuits.
  • mikeash 12y ago
    What's wrong with what he suggested? The only active measure he proposed is telling the guy's bosses. Surely that's appropriate for a mistake. The rest is just stuff to keep in mind in the event that it turns out not to be a mistake.
  • jarin 12y ago
    I'll take the risk of being buried along with beenpoor, but I should point out that asking someone out once is not harassment. Harassment is asking them out repeatedly after being turned down (i.e. it is known to be unwelcome). Not making any excuses for what interviewer guy did at all, that was still pretty slimy.
• bhayden 12y ago
  I'm not sure responding at all to the man in question is appropriate. She needs to sever contact.
  • dsr_ 12y ago
    Sever contact? It's not like they're coworkers. In what way would you suggest she sever contact?
    • bhayden 12y ago
      By not responding as the poster above me suggested.
• al45tair 12y ago
  What’s wrong with just telling him it’s inappropriate and that the answer is no?
  • jackmaney 12y ago
    Because he needs to face consequences for his behavior. He's a massive liability to his company.
    • beeworker 12y ago
      What if he's a 10x engineer? He's a massive PR liability because of our insane outrage culture, but he's a very valuable asset for, you know, his actual job.
      • mikeash 12y ago
        What if he scares off 10 1x engineers because he's poisonous? Or what if he scares off another 10x engineer who happens to be a woman? Keeping toxic people around is not usually going to pay off, regardless of "outrage culture" (which is an odd way of describing a culture that punishes abuse of power).
        • beeworker 12y ago
          What if he's a 0.5x engineer and firing him would be good anyway? I was merely illustrating that just because someone acts in an outrageous way doesn't make them a liability, net. There's no rule saying effective companies must be filled with saints, even if that would be nice.
          • mikeash 12y ago
            You implied that if he's really good at his job then he must necessarily be a very valuable asset. My point is that he could easily be a liability even if he's excellent at his job, and not because of "outrage culture."
          • 12y ago
• tzs 12y ago
  > * Keep your own legal counsel on speed-dial. What scenario are you envisioning where she might need to save the 15 seconds it would take to dial from the contacts app?
  • forgottenpass 12y ago
    It's an expression from the days when "the contacts app" wasn't a thing. Like the save icon floppy disk, expressions tend to last beyond societal changes that make them meaningless.
• bearclough 12y ago
  Lawyers are expensive something a recent graduate probably doesn't have easy access to.
• novaleaf 12y ago
  Come on, turn the cheek. Sheeze. If you are really feeling vindictive, just forward the OP, that will make him think twice next time. Edit, removed sarcasm
  • novaleaf 12y ago
    And if it isn't clear, yeah, I think forwarding this to the company he has the potential of ruining this guy's life. Call me soft hearted, I guess.