Man Slammed for Saying Co-Worker Was Only Promoted Because of Her Breasts

Commenters praised a woman for calling out her co-worker's intelligence after he said the only reason she received a promotion was because of the size of her breasts.

The Original Poster (OP), known as u/Oaks20173, posted about the situation in Reddit's popular "Am I The A**hole" forum where it received more than 10,400 upvotes and 1,600 comments. The post can be found here.

Workplace Harassment and Bullying

The Workplace Bullying Institute estimates that nearly one in three adult Americans have experienced abusive conduct at work in their lifetime.

A reported 23 percent of these victims quit their jobs due to harassment or bullying at work, while only about 3 percent of perpetrators leave.

Victims of workplace bullying also have a 67 percent chance of losing their jobs, whether they are terminated, convinced to quit, or voluntarily transfer as a result of the abusive treatment.

Although a reported 81 percent of women and 43 percent of men will experience some form of workplace sexual harassment or assault, three in four workplace sexual harassment claims go unreported.

These behaviors include sexually explicit or discriminatory remarks, intimidation, sexual advances, and derogatory words or jokes.

'AITA?'

In the post titled "AITA for how I responded when my co worker told me that the reason I got a promotion was because of my breast size?" the 33-year-old woman said she has been working with the company for three years.

"After years of long shifts, working on weekends and going the extra mile the company finally gave me a promotion," the post read.

The OP said some of her co-workers were "confused" why she received the promotion when they'd worked "harder" and longer but she ignored their comments.

Recently, the OP's co-worker Michael joined her and the other employees during lunch and began venting about his demotion.

'My Breast Size'

"I stayed quiet til he brought up my promotion and then flatout said 'that the reason I got a promotion was because of my breast size,'" the post read. "I was shocked I almost dropped my cup. I looked around and everyone was staring."

The OP responded to Michael that the reason he got a demotion was because of his "brain size" and his face went pale as the other employees laughed. She said he was "pissed beyond belief" and walked out of the room.

"Some co workers approached me saying that Michael's reputation is ahead of him and that he's one of the best this company hired," the post read. "But due to his circumstances he couldn't focus on work and got demoted as a result."

A few of the OP's co-workers said she should not have implied that Michael is "stupid" or "humiliated" him in front of the others, but when she asked if they were okay with Michael's comment they said she should have ignored him.

"He's awaiting my apology and keeps avoiding me. I feel horrible because I'm not a mean person and don't go out of my way to hurt others feelings," the post read. "I started to regret what I said. AITA?"

Redditor Reactions

More than 1,600 users commented on the post, with many urging the OP to contact HR and inform them about her co-worker's comment.

"Go straight to HR and report him for sexual harassment, which [is] exactly what his comment was," one user commented. "He was taking his own personal failings out on your physical attributes. Get ahead of the situation. Do NOT apologize to him, that could be taken as an admission of guilt. I think your response was perfect."

"I hate how us women gaslight ourselves. OP is concerned that Michael is waiting for her apology and whether she's an a**hole," another user commented. "OP, please take our advice seriously and go to HR."

"Did your coworkers tell Michael he was way out of line for his comment?" another user commented. "They don't get to tell you that you should have ignored him or talked to him private after he very publicly insulted you. Go to HR. If Michael felt it was okay to talk about a coworker like that once, then he'll most likely do it again."

"Oh. So it's ok to humiliate you in public but you have to talk to him in private. I don't think so," another user commented. "Report him to HR."

"NTA. His remark was textbook sexual harassment (as in, my sexual harassment training had a less crude version of that comment as a specific example)," another user commented. "Not only did this man sexually harass you publicly, you had multiple colleagues essentially take his side instead of being aghast at what he said and supporting your attempt to defend yourself."

Newsweek reached out to u/Oaks20173 for comment.

Other Viral Posts

In another viral Reddit post, a man was praised for "seeking revenge" on his workplace "bully" and another was cheered for insulting his manager in front of his manager's boss.

In another post, an employee left commenters stunned after revealing that her boss allegedly hit her seven times.