Worker Says Her Boss Followed Her Around Town On Her Lunch Break Despite Being Able To Leave The Property — 'I Feel Uneasy'
She couldn't figure out why her boss had gone everywhere she went.
Stratol, olaser, aleksandrkondratov / Canva A woman on Reddit posted about the odd behavior her boss had exhibited while she was out on her lunch break.
After leaving Target and doing a little bit of grocery shopping — while still on her break — she noticed something peculiar in the parking lot. It was her boss's car.
Her boss followed her around town during her lunch break and made her ‘feel uneasy.’
Turning to the “r/antiwork” subreddit for advice, she shared the details of her strange encounter.
“Since I live out ‘in-the-sticks,’ I usually run errands on my lunch break so I can get better deals on groceries, booze, etc that I normally wouldn’t get in my small town,” she claimed in her post. “I walked out of Target today and saw my boss’s car in the back of the parking lot (and you cannot miss this thing, man — he drives a bright yellow Kia Soul with black, slanted stripes).”
She thought it was weird, initially, but tried not to think about it too much. Maybe he needed something from Target, too?
When he followed her across town to get cheap gas, however, she started to see things a little differently. She “saw him pull through the parking lot then leave,” which seemed like a highly suspicious thing to do.
“Next stop, liquor store (for the game tonight/weekend). [I] walked out, his car [was] behind the store, barely visible, but there... Since I was out of time, drove back to the office, noticing he was 2-3 cars behind me the whole way. I just sat down in my cube and he walked in 5 mins later. Is this weird?” she asked.
Photo: Reddit
She clarified that she was allowed to leave the property and do whatever she wanted during her break. And commenters rightfully urged her to take the encounter seriously, recommending reaching out to the higher-ups.
"I absolutely would go to HR and file a report for stalking. Then when it happens again take pictures and video for proof. Always document anything that can be construed as retaliation as well. Then go to HR a final time with all your proof of harassment both in and out of the workplace," someone responded.
This wasn’t the first time her boss had been reported for unlawful or threatening behavior. Though she defended him, calling him a hardworking man and explaining that he was due to retire soon, she decided to report the situation to his superiors to see what was going on.
She had a gut feeling that something was wrong, and she was right. This was not an isolated incident with her boss — he had been reported eight years ago for unlawful/threatening behavior.
Unfortunately, workplace harassment or stalking isn’t entirely uncommon in the United States.
According to a survey from the International Labour Organization, Lloyd's Register Foundation, and Gallup, from December 2022, approximately 23% of all workers have experienced violence and harassment at work. Women, overall, are at higher risk of experiencing this kind of behavior in the workplace.
Fortunately for the woman who penned this post, her company was very supportive of her and helped things move forward in a way that made her more comfortable.
She was given a tentative WFH schedule that made it so she wouldn’t have to go into the office until he retired — a date that was moved up by his superiors in order to get him out. She was being fast-tracked to the promotion that she was promised months from now, and she would also have the full support of her company when it came to providing evidence and receipts should she decide to press charges.
She decided against pressing charges, but she appreciated the way the situation was handled despite being disappointed that things turned out that way.
Isaac Serna-Diez is an Assistant Editor for YourTango who focuses on entertainment and news, social justice, and politics.