So I work quite closely with a guy at work (he’s remote - never met him) but by the nature of our jobs are often on zoom 3-4 hours a day and chatting frequently about projects. Last week after I asked him about 8 questions in a row I said “you’ll be sick of me by December” ( the end of our project) he said “not with your beautiful eyes”. I brushed it off and carried on although I felt uneasy.
Today a colleague who is in her early 20s came to me and told me he had been telling her about the strip clubs he’d been too and how hard he finds it to be teased and not finish.
Alarm bells were ringing so immediately pulled our line manager to tell him of both incidents. He escalated it and he was given a talking to - not a formal grievance.
Since then, he has apologised but hasn’t answered my calls or messages. Should I have spoken to him about it first? The next month is going to be so awkward - I can’t help but think I should have flagged the inappropriate behaviour directly. Was I unreasonable to escalate without talking to him first? I feel like I’ve betrayed the trust we have as a team.