Woman Praised for 'Embarrassing' Co-Worker Flirting With Her Husband (2024)

For some people, co-workers are the most difficult part of their job—especially when they go after your husband.

A woman took to Reddit to ask if she was wrong to "embarrass" her new female colleague, after she caught her flirting with her husband during his lunch hour.

Within less than 24 hours, the post, titled "AITA for embarrassing our female co-worker," has received almost 11,000 likes and nearly 900 comments, many from users praising her handling of the situation.

Office Romances on the Rise

Despite employees spending less time at the office during COVID-19, workplace romances actually increased.

A 2021 survey by the Society for Human Resource Management discovered that 50 percent of staff had developed a crush on a co-worker, while 34 percent said they were having an affair with a colleague—a 7 percent increase from the year before.

Twenty-five percent of participants said they'd either started or continued a workplace affair during the pandemic. The survey found that 70 percent were involved with their peers, 21 percent cheated with subordinates and 18 percent with a superior.

'Don't Be Rude About It'

Sharing her story with the "Am I the A******" subreddit, user u/PossieL explained that she and her husband are managers of a dispensary. He works as the inventory manager while she handles the kitchen, but until a month ago they worked at separate stores.

She describes Jen, the woman who works at the front of the dispensary as "a f****** smokeshow."

"Drop dead gorgeous young lady and to be blunt, all the men here drool over her," she said.

"But she also.. idk how to put it.. she runs through the men here. She has already 'dated' or hooked up with three of them and recently her eyes [have moved] to my husband."

The poster said she is used to other women taking an interest in her husband, as he is a "solid 10 on a bad day." However, she is unhappy that Jen is continuing to pursue him, despite knowing he's married. To make things more complicated, Jen is also unaware that PossieL is his wife, and has been discussing her crush in front of her.

She wrote: "My husband came to me yesterday and was like 'Listen, Jen has been trying to take breaks with me and she often gets into my truck without asking whenever she sees me sitting outside, asking that I smoke her up and being flirty' (like touching his arms and legs type of s***).

"I asked if he wanted me to handle it and he said 'please, but don't be rude about it' because he had already told her several times he was married and her only response is 'Oh I already know that.'"

On his next break, the poster decided to join her husband and Jen in the truck. When she got to the vehicle, Jen was in the front seat, with some of their male co-workers in the back.

She said: "I hear my husband say 'that's my wife's seat' and she just giggles and says she is keeping it warm. Please note we are in our 30s and this girl is 23.

"I go up to the window and say 'thanks for keeping my seat warm but I'm here now.' She just scowls at me and says 'we are kind of talking here.' So, I go 'yes, I see that and now I would like to speak to my husband' with a smile on my face."

After the three co-workers in the back started laughing, Jen's "face fell" and she quickly got out of the truck.

"The situation got back to the owner's wife, who was unhappy with how the situation was handled. She said I should have pulled Jen aside and said something versus embarrass her in front of everyone," she added.

"AITA? Apparently Jen and the owner's wife are the only two who think so."

Reddit users agreed the poster had done nothing wrong, with Weekly_Guava801 saying Jen had "embarrassed herself."

"You actually handled the situation very maturely," they wrote.

MindlessSky9 agreed, commenting: "For people incapable of learning that 'No' is a complete sentence, shame and embarrassment are highly effective teachers."

However, other users warned that Jen's behavior is sexual harassment and suggested that her husband make a report to their employers.

"Put pressure on HR," said Zealousideal-Tree451. "That's sexual harassment and she was asked repeatedly to leave him alone."

"Talk to a lawyer about the sexual harassment," commented Fun_Owl3744.

"Consultations are usually free. And nothing gets the bosses moving like a letter threatening to sue for sexual harassment."

In the comments, PossieL said that her husband had already submitted a complaint in writing, but as Jen is related to the owner's wife, the situation was ignored.

"She is the owner's wife's cousin," she said. "She has been reported several times but due to this girl being related to the owners nothing is done. We will be [reporting] to the labor board if this continues to escalate."

Newsweek has reached out to u/PossieL for comment. We could not verify the details of the case.

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