Woman Defended for Sitting Away From Cologne-Soaked Coworker: 'Horrendous'

Members of a popular internet forum showed support for one woman who explained why she refuses to sit next to a particular male coworker.

In a viral Reddit post published on r/AmItheA**hole, Redditor u/throwaway9261035811 (otherwise referred to as the original poster, or OP) described the coworker's pungent odor and detailed his repeated attempts to get as close to her as possible.

Titled, "[Am I the a**hole] for refusing to sit next to a co worker due to his smell and not denying the reason why when I was asked?" the post has received more than 6,000 upvotes and 700 comments in the last day.

"I would personally say I'm friends with most of my [coworkers] with the exception of Jay 31M," OP began. "I don't have anything personal against him but...for lack of better words Jay stinks."

Continuing to explain that her coworker uses a cologne she labeled "horrendous," and regularly eats raw garlic in the company lunch area, the original poster said she had never mentioned the smell—until the issue became unavoidable.

"Recently Jay started to become a lot more friendly towards me [and] some co worker told me that he has a crush on me," OP wrote. "This [resulted] in him trying to sit next to me during meetings, on lunch breaks and trying to hang around my cubicle whenever possible."

"This week we had a particularly bad heat wave in my city, and like every week Jay again tried to sit next to me but this time I couldn't endure...so I would just stand up and move," OP continued. "He confronted me about it saying he's hurt by my actions and asked me why I was acting that way towards him.

"He looked hurt and asked me if I thought he stinked," OP added. "I didn't answer and just told him that he's making me uncomfortable and asked him to please step away from me."

Unwanted attention in the workplace is universally unacceptable—smell or no smell.

Regardless of auxiliary factors, conduct which makes coworkers feel uncomfortable is intolerable, and can be in violation of numerous federal laws, according to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).

But even considering the EEOC's assertion that prevention is the "best tool to eliminate harassment," unwanted conduct remains rampant in workplaces across the country, often appearing in the form of brazen attempts at humor, exploitative power trips and inappropriate romantic advances.

To conclude her viral Reddit post, the original poster said she was informed that she "deeply hurt" her coworker's feelings, and that she was starting to regret the entire ordeal.

"I'm starting to feel bad and I don't know if I'm the a**hole in this situation, but at the same time I don't know what I could've done differently," OP wrote.

Throughout the post's comment section, however, Redditors defended the original poster's actions and called out her coworker for not leaving well enough alone.

"You have made it clear through your actions that you are not interested in him," Redditor u/Whitestaunton wrote in the post's top comment, which has received more than 10,000 upvotes. "He is continuing to push himself on you.

"You may need to be blunt with your colleagues," they continued. "His insistence on trying to be near you after you have made it clear you are not interested is inappropriate and makes you uncomfortable."

No one would expect you to put up with this kind of behaviour if you were male," they added.

Redditor u/ohno_spaghetti_o, whose comment has received more than 3,000 upvotes, offered a similar response.

"Take the smell out of it," they wrote. "You have a [31-year-old] who is always sitting next to, and hanging around another person's cubicle with no indication that their presence is wanted.

"You have a hostile work environment," they added. "It is not appropriate in the work place or anywhere else for this unwanted attention to be tolerated."

Newsweek reached out to u/throwaway9261035811 for comment.