Reported male colleagues to HR

[Explorer36]

I attended our team meal last night - the usual meal/drinks afterwards. We are a big corporate company; the team I’m specifically on is a mix of ages and genders and everyone generally gets along quite well. We’ve got a vacancy due to someone retiring and it’s being advertised at the moment. Discussion was had between myself and two male colleagues - essentially ‘wonder whether it will be someone internal of external brought in’

The following exchange went along these lines:

Colleague 1 - I just hope they are fit
Colleague 2 - yeah, we need some younger blood. Blonde hair, boobs, tight little arse.
Colleague 1 - bit of eye candy, makes the day go faster
Me - I don’t think that’s how the company recruit people
Colleague 2 - manager name will look after us, he knows what we want (laughter between them both)
Me - Sorry, but that’s really not appropriate is it
Colleague 1 - if it was a good looking bloke you’d all be creaming your knickers so don’t give me that sort of attitude (laughter again)
Colleague 2 - Yeah, we know what you lot are like- dirty old women.

I told them I was uncomfortable at this point and I joined another group. After discussing this was a colleague earlier, she encouraged me to submit a HR report as for me, a line was crossed.

They are early 30’s and old enough to know better - one of them is married with kids.

Would you have done the same?

@Explorer36

You were completely and totally in the right to report this - I’m hoping that there is progress made in society so my daughter isn’t objectified like this when she starts work, and that she can work anywhere she likes - and isn’t excluded from certain types of work because it’s viewed as the ‘norm’ to view women as disposable fodder that are only valued by their sex appeal to men.

If you are an ‘open target’ then you report, report, report for workplace harassment as a result.

Thank you. If we encourage a work place culture that eradicates this, then we are helping women everywhere.

Good for you. What disgusting creeps. However, I would never trust HR. They are there to protect the company, not employees and if they get a wiff of a lawsuit coming they will turn on you.

I remember years ago reading about a female lawyer at Merrill Lynch reporting comments along these lines. Her female Manager allegedly made her life a living hell.

https://www.standard.co.uk/hp/front/sexism-in-the-city-merrill-settles-6986533.html

I don’t go to these things anymore either. Even now I’m older I still get sexually harassed.

I wouldn't have gone to HR, but would have told them to eff off and walked away.
Did they really say "creaming your knickers" ? I though that was a line out of a movie ( Grease?) Never heard anyone say it in real life. They sound like a pair of wallys.

That attitude is why people have gotten away with appalling behaviour for too long.