Man Dragged for Sending Nudes to Late Colleague's Widow of 3 weeks: 'Fired'

Random men sliding into a woman's DMs is rarely a pleasant experience, but when their husband has just died, it's a whole other level of creepy.

A man is being slammed online for messaging his late colleague's widow—three weeks after her husband passed away.

Posting to Reddit's Am I the A******? forum on 20 July, user u/throwRA799577 said she was being criticized for reporting her husband's colleague, despite his "inappropriate behavior."

She wrote: "For days I kept getting texts from his colleague 'Ted.' I Don't know him personally I had no idea how he even got my number.

"At first I felt annoyed but then I started getting flirty texts from him. They started getting more and more inappropriate.

"I warned him to stop but he sent me a d Pic one night at 3am and asked if I 'needed company' since he 'knew I was lonely.'

"Appalled by the man's behavior, the next morning she went straight to her husband's former boss to report him.

"I filed a report against [him] after explaining in detail about his behavior," she said.

"He ended up getting fired because the other colleagues said he did me and my husband wrong and disrespected his memory."

In retaliation for the report, the man began messaging the widow, accusing her of "ruining his livelihood."

"He kept saying it was between him and I and his workplace had nothing to do with it," she shared.

"[He] said I was aiming to get him fired and that he 'did nothing' wrong and I could've talked it out with him instead."

Although the experience of grief varies from person to person, a 2020 study found that people dealing with "common grief" usually feel an improvement in symptoms between six months and two years.

Common or "normal" grief is a natural response to experiencing a traumatic life event, such as death, a miscarriage, a divorce or losing your job. Typical symptoms include crying, disturbed sleep, a lack of motivation, a loss of appetite, difficulty concentrating and apathy towards life in general.

There is no agreed time period for dating after the death of a partner, and there is little data available on young widowhood. However, a 2014 study explored the number of Canadians over 45 who formed a new union after losing a partner, and found that 7 percent of widows and 29 percent of widowers found a new love within 10 years.

However, moving on isn't always easy, even if the widow or widower is ready for a new love. Mumsnet users recently supported a widower whose adult children didn't want him to remarry, while a Redditor was called "creepy" for dating a widow.

Redditors unanimously supported the woman contacted by her husband's colleague, with the post receiving over 9,000 upvotes and more than 1,000 comments.

"He got your phone number at work. He knew you were a widow because of work. He would never have targeted you if he hadn't known your husband and knew he died," wrote wee_idjit. "The guy had it coming. Preying on someone's grief is so low."

Dbellhogwarts agreed, commenting: "Exactly! Plus she's a widow of THREE WEEKS!

"I might understand reaching out after 6 months and building a friendship but 3 weeks and d*** pics?! That man deserved the consequences for his horrible actions."

Some users suggested that the man's actions were a misuse of sensitive information, which is a fireable offense in its own right.

"[He] likely got OP's contact information from his workplace, and promptly started using it to make a vile nuisance of himself to OP," said Either)_Coconut.

"Looping the employer into the conversation is the right thing to do."

Missoularedhead commented: "Even if we give him the benefit of the doubt that the texts and pics were sent in his own personal time (which even if we do, it's still gross af), I still say he was rightly fired for accessing confidential information for his personal use."

Others advised the woman to also file a police report, with OhioPolitiTHIC writing: "The odds don't look good for this guy suddenly seeing reason and I'd bet my own money he escalates to threats and possibly violence."

"Absolutely file a report so that if and when the behavior escalates (which I'm sure it will), the history of his behavior will be on file," added KrissiNotKristi.

"Depending on where you live, the police probably won't take any action. However, filing with the police can help you to obtain a restraining order in the future if needed."

Newsweek has reached out to u/throwRA799577 for comment.