A reader writes:
I (a lady) travelled on my own to a work-related convention and encountered some dangerous conduct on the flight. A fast search on AAM indicated many readers requested questions associated to work-related journeys with of us throughout the identical firm. How about with of us from one other firm? Apart from ignoring and strolling away, what could be your take?
A tech-related convention was in Las Vegas. No less than 90% of the individuals on my fully-booked flight had been heading to the identical occasion. (By the sight of company-branded swags and speaking to of us within the line-up, it’s not arduous to determine the place the parents had been heading.) An anti-harassment coverage in writing has been in place for the occasion, with the very best type of punishment being everlasting expulsion from the occasion.
The individual on the window seat and I, who had the aisle seat, instructed one another what we do and the place we work. Many people on the flight did the identical. The flight was virtually 4 hours from the east coast. My neighbor made anti-mask, racial, and sexual remarks. I instructed him the remarks weren’t welcomed and ignored the remarks that adopted. Then he used his knee to manage my tray desk and handled me like somebody who didn’t perceive English. He additionally gestured that he wished to go to the restroom a minimum of eight instances (sure I counted). When he returned to his seat, he purposely bumped my physique. He additionally requested for further alcohol through the flight, however the flight attendant refused to offer him the additional serving.
When the flight was prepared for the passengers to disembark, I picked up my belongings rapidly and left. I by no means noticed this individual through the occasion once more.
Because the conduct didn’t happen on the convention, I can’t report it to the organizers. Though the journey is part of work, I can’t report it to my office as a result of the unruly neighbor doesn’t work for my employer. This individual wasn’t violent or visibly drunk so others couldn’t see. Messaging this individual’s employer’s HR wouldn’t yield any favorable outcomes and may be inviting him to retaliate.
Yeah, there aren’t nice choices right here. The very best one most likely would have been to speak to a flight attendant through the flight and see in the event you might be moved, though I understand it’s too late for that now.
It’s not solely true that conferences with anti-harassment insurance policies aren’t involved in conduct exterior the convention — in the event you’d been harassed by a fellow convention attendee on the lodge bar after a day of workshops, for instance, most convention organizers would need to learn about that, or even when it had occurred in a restaurant throughout city that you simply had each ended up in when you had been on the town for the occasion. However you’re proper that the airplane was fairly far afield from that. That mentioned, relying on how flagrant this man’s remarks had been, it’s attainable that they’d nonetheless fall below the convention’s coverage, notably if he recognized himself as a fellow attendee.
Past that, although, you’re proper that there’s not a lot recourse; that is extra like encountering an ass within the wild than encountering one in a piece setting.