Katharina Buczek
This 32-year-old man and his wife, who’s 30, have been married for five years, and their relationship has always been solid. They also work at the same mid-sized company, just in different departments.
“We don’t work together directly, but we see each other around the office,” he said.
Only a couple of weeks ago, though, he found out some shocking news. One of their coworkers, Jake, had apparently been hitting on his wife.
He had no clue until his wife spilled the beans one evening. She seemed pretty uncomfortable and mentioned how Jake had been sending her very personal texts and excessively complimenting her appearance. Jake even asked her out for drinks after work, and she turned the guy down.
“When she told me about it, she seemed worried that it would escalate, and I could tell it made her feel really awkward,” he recalled.
So, he decided to confront Jake about the situation, and now, he’s not sure if he overreacted. He tried to avoid causing a scene. Yet, at the same time, he thought it was important to put Jake “in his place” and make it clear that his behavior was out of line, given they’re married and his wife was uncomfortable.
He ultimately pulled Jake aside during lunch one afternoon and claimed he knew about what his coworker had been doing. He also told Jake that it needed to stop.
“I didn’t yell or threaten him. I just laid it out clearly that his behavior wasn’t acceptable,” he explained.
Jake looked stunned, accused him of overreacting, and swore it was simply “harmless flirting.” Still, he didn’t back down, saying that if Jake continued behaving like that toward his wife, he’d escalate the situation to HR.
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