SPINOFF: Now THAT is unprofessional!

spiderlashes5000

What are the most unprofessional behaviors, situations, aspects of dress/appearance and utterances you have experienced during your paid and volunteer work?

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I'll start...off the top of my head...

law firm partner repeatedly touching/flicking/scratching his crotch
manager disciplining me for telling "the boss" I like Mexican food (after I had been warned not to)
front desk staff chewing her cuticles (daily) until they bled

Josephine

I worked for a company where the owners were husband and wife. It's a small company so we'd have meetings with them. And they would argue with each other during the meetings and we felt like their kids lol. They were also racist and said a lot of incorrect things but it was behind closed doors that I just heard about.

Same company - the hr lady went to a woman who worked there and tried to pull her shirt up because she thought it was too low cut.

I heard after I left they had a meeting with all the women there (all 4 or 5) about how not to wear low cut tops. I heard before I got there, they also had a rule if you wore a dress or skirt it would have to cover your knees even after you sit down.

My last week I wore my push up bra and some low tops and shorter dresses. I know the boys loved it lol and yes that was unprofessional of me.

curlypearl

Interesting thread. In no particular order:

1) Told to wear tight sweaters at an ad agency because the clients "like to see your nipples."

2) Man pulled me into his office, stuck his tongue down my throat and groped me.

3) Cameraman on soap offered me chance to be in a movie if I slept with him. Said if I didn't I would never get called back for more work on the soap. I was never called back.

4) Forced by multiple supervisors to do their personal work for free on my own time at a nonprofit where people were supposedly so concerned about individual rights. This included typing a will for my boss's mother, typing term papers for their children, photocopying an enormous book for a boss's neighbor, etc.

5) When I was waitressing, cook threatened to lock me in a freezer when I resisted being groped.

6) Had neck rubbed and hair tousled by lawyer when I temped in law firm. HR told me I would be let go if I made a stink.

Recalling all these and other instances of exploitation and sexual misconduct is raising my blood pressure. :angry4:

CatitudeBoo

That sh|t makes me super angry! I'm so sorry you had to go through those instances. Was anyone ever held accountable for their disgusting behavior?

CurlyCanadian

These are going to sound awful not knowing my bosses, but they both really are the best guys ever. I've worked for them for over 10 years, following them cross country and back.

One of them called me a *****. I was on the phone with his brother a few days later and told him I needed to talk to to HR....we don't have an HR dept. He said he was HR and what was the issue. I told him he wasn't going to be impartial, and I needed someone else. He was all concerned, told him what had happened and his response was "What did you do??" And yes, I totally deserved being called a ***** in the moment lol

We were having a terrible sales week, my boss told me to put a skirt on and get out on the corner and start getting people in. He is at least fair, I've heard him tell guys to put a bikini on and get outside to draw people in.

After this past years Christmas party, we drove one of the bosses & his wife home. He was trashed and spent the whole ride talking about dildos and peoples size preferences.

While they sound terrible, both are completely harmless, in fabulous marriages and treat all their employees like family. Yesturday was my birthday and one brother sent me a text & emails to work and home, the other called my and him & his wife sang happy birthday to me

PerriP

Wow, I have nothing like this. Currently, we have a woman who often hops up out of her chair and says, "ohh!!! i have to GO!" really loudly (really loudly)

then runs to the bathroom.
comes back and makes a big (very large, loud) sigh and says ,"that was close" or "I feel better" or something along those lines

she also has a disgusting cough that we have complained about - she gags at her desk and spits in her trashcan.

ohh, I do remember being tackled onto a couch once by a school principal, he climbed on top of me, laughing the entire time. I was not laughing.

Josephine

curlypearl wrote: »

Interesting thread. In no particular order:

1) Told to wear tight sweaters at an ad agency because the clients "like to see your nipples."

2) Man pulled me into his office, stuck his tongue down my throat and groped me.

3) Cameraman on soap offered me chance to be in a movie if I slept with him. Said if I didn't I would never get called back for more work on the soap. I was never called back.

4) Forced by multiple supervisors to do their personal work for free on my own time at a nonprofit where people were supposedly so concerned about individual rights. This included typing a will for my boss's mother, typing term papers for their children, photocopying an enormous book for a boss's neighbor, etc.

5) When I was waitressing, cook threatened to lock me in a freezer when I resisted being groped.

6) Had neck rubbed and hair tousled by lawyer when I temped in law firm. HR told me I would be let go if I made a stink.

Recalling all these and other instances of exploitation and sexual misconduct is raising my blood pressure. :angry4:

Wow, some of these are not unprofessional behavior but straight up sexual assault! I'm so sorry you had to go through this.

Josephine

PerriP wrote: »

Wow, I have nothing like this. Currently, we have a woman who often hops up out of her chair and says, "ohh!!! i have to GO!" really loudly (really loudly)

then runs to the bathroom.
comes back and makes a big (very large, loud) sigh and says ,"that was close" or "I feel better" or something along those lines

LOL, I've talked about my bathroom habits with coworkers, but only the close ones. We'd talk about #2s too lol.

PerriP

Josephine wrote: »

PerriP wrote: »

Wow, I have nothing like this. Currently, we have a woman who often hops up out of her chair and says, "ohh!!! i have to GO!" really loudly (really loudly)

then runs to the bathroom.
comes back and makes a big (very large, loud) sigh and says ,"that was close" or "I feel better" or something along those lines

LOL, I've talked about my bathroom habits with coworkers, but only the close ones. We'd talk about #2s too lol.

This is not a sharing conversation, this is just her blurting it out. She's a hot mess. I have coworkers I'll discuss things with, but those are private conversations.

spiderlashes5000

curlypearl wrote: »

Interesting thread. In no particular order:

1) Told to wear tight sweaters at an ad agency because the clients "like to see your nipples."

Is it wrong that I just peed myself laughing at this. OMG. Did you comply?

The other stuff is actually horrible and makes me furious...for you and all women!:angryfire:

curlypearl

Perri, were you scared when the principal climbed on you? I'm sorry that happened to you. What a pig! It's often someone in power (see Anita Hill movie coming out soon).

Spider, in a way some of the things that happened were so ridiculous they are indeed laughable although I never found it funny at the time. I never complied with any of it except I did end up doing personal work on my own time for free. I felt forced and the implication was that I was selfish if I didn't "help out." I was at their mercy.

Josephine, thanks very much for your comment. It helps that people understand and empathize.

It may sound strange when I say this but I was equally angry when I was coerced into doing loads of personal work on my own time for no money which happened with both male and female supervisors. The reason that was so outrageous is that I experienced sexual innuendo and exploitation so often that I came to expect some of it but I totally didn't expect to be exploited by these so-called do-gooders at the non-profit.

"Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely"

curlypearl

CatitudeBoo, No one was every held accountable for their disgusting behavior. Thank you so much for your comment. I appreciate that you got angry on my behalf. I hope you get to see the Anita Hill movie.

MorrisonFan91

very very sorry that those things happened to you, buddies.

when i was in college, the only time i ever punched someone in my life- it was another guy who groped a lady friend.( i earned my black belt before that , and was taught to defend if saw that kind of thing. )

PerriP

CP I wasn't scared. I was pissed and pissed that his boss knew he behaved like this. I was high enough up the food chain that it wasn't threatening to me as much as WTF.

~ sent with love and good intentions ~

multicultcurly

Goodness CP and Perri those are some crazy and disturbing stories. Glad you've came out of those situations okay.

I worked for an adult vocational school that was part of a community college. I was so glad to leave. My coworkers would throw up gang signs and talk about whose hood or barrio was the hardest. They did this in the open in hallways. The Student Services department would refuse to assist students in person and on the phone. Staff would talk about anything in front of students and ignore students.

The Student Services Director held a meeting during business hours that lasted hours. Students weren't able to speak to anyone in admissions or financial services.

Sent from my SPH-L710 using CurlTalk App

curlypearl

Morrisonfan you have a black belt? WoW - terrific! You should never doubt yourself. That is a great achievement.

Lotsawaves

I've been around a long time, so there are so many.
I worked in an insurance office & anytime I leaned over to put something on my bosses desk he would put his finger down my blouse to pull my top down. He also brought me a soda that he had spiked with alcohol. I didn't drink it. I once had a district manager visiting who smelled me as I was walking by & said I smelled like a woman. I had an assistant manager propose to me as we were closing up for the night. He was married. I had another boss who asked if my daughter & I would do a threesome in the hot tub with him. I had a finance manager of a car dealership who I worked with offer me money for a nude photo. My last boss told me that I was hot & also said that if he had known I wasn't Republican he wouldn't have hired me. At the same job I was approached by a husband & wife who were leasing an office to party with them in bed. I'm sure I have forgotten some. I thought it would be different working on my own with my dog sitting/walking BUT I had a client ask if he could kiss me. I had another aggressively kiss me. What is up with these men?

curlypearl

Lotsa, I can definitely relate! Hiss boo on all of them. The weirdest thing is that I believe most of these men think we take these approaches as compliments. Bizarre.

sixelamy

This lady in our office smells so bad some days, her hair is a mess (curly, but she just lets it go and doesn't do a thing to it and rarely gets a haircut), and she emailed the supervisor one day and told her she won't be in because she's "crampy and messy".

This same lady also makes comments about my size, being pregnant. She told me I was getting "big and round" and told my coworker than I look bigger than I should be.

I had a supervisor ask my coworker friend why I left one day when our system was down, because she thought I didn't have enough vacation time (she's not even my supervisor, so how does she know? - I had way more than plenty).

I've also had a couple people approach me *at work* about the union they were trying to form. One lady even pulled me aside and asked me why I voted no, then proceeded to tell me the one other person in the office that voted no. Completely unprofessional.

The guy I share a cubicle wall with slams on his mouse every damn day. I'm talking, I can hear it down the hall in the break room. He also slams his desk drawers so hard it shakes my entire desk. But yet he complains to the supervisors when the rest of us have a conversation with each other, because it's distracting.

At one of my old jobs at a warehouse, I went into a closet upstairs off a conference room and messed around with a guy. That was exciting. The security guard I was friends with that had a crush on me made a comment one day like he had seen it. Oops.