That’s Just How He Is
I worked in the bakery at a Fred Meyers store for about six months when I was freshly 19. There was this 45-year-old guy in the meat and seafood section who was super creepy.
All of the women in my department, including a previous employee who had moved because of him, warned me about this man from day one.
Any time I was on my break, he would “coincidentally” be on his break too. He’d follow me into the break room and try to flirt with me the entire time. If I had to walk to another part of the store to get anything, he would run to catch up to me and walk with me.
He also followed me to my car a few times after I got off shift. The scariest time was when I was closing by myself and he came into the back of the bakery, following me around the long table. He kept telling me how much he liked me and how badly he wanted to be with me.
When he got too touchy, I told him no and to leave me alone. But that’s not even the worst part—the managers who were there to witness the situation just shrugged and said “that’s just how he is.”
My boyfriend threatened him when he got off work one time. Heck, even my father came in and threatened him because NO ONE was doing ANYTHING. The final straw for me was one night when I was closing alone again.
He came into the back area, followed me into the freezer, and tried to kiss me. He also grabbed my butt. I pushed him away and ran to the closing manager who also functioned as HR.
He said he’d “watch the store footage” and talk to me the next day. When I came to work the following morning, he pulled me into his office. He said that he saw the video and had already “talked” to him about his behavior.
Apparently, the creepy co-worker responded that it was just a “misunderstanding,” and that was good enough for HR.
I replied that this had been going on for months and that I wasn’t going to take it anymore. He then had the NERVE to tell me that,
“He just does this to all the new girls. As soon as another girl gets hired, he’ll leave you alone.” I quit on the spot—but I soon found out the disturbing truth. Turns out, the creep was the brother of the store’s owner.
This guy had been behind bars in the past for assault but was now “cleaning his life up.”