An office worker has recounted blocking a colleague who obtained her phone number from a work group chat and subsequently sent her unsolicited personal text messages. The situation escalated when the coworker, after receiving no initial response, became insistent and questioned why she was ignoring him.
According to the woman's account, the coworker initially texted, "Hello there lady! I got your number from the group chat. I hope you don't mind, have a great day! :D." When she did not reply, he followed up with messages stating, "So, you're just going to ignore me?" and "I see you were active in the group chat so I don't understand why you would ignore me. If you don't want to contact me via WhatsApp just say so, there's no reason to be rude."
Furious, the woman responded directly, "I don't want you to contact me via WhatsApp. If you need to contact me, do so via Teams. Take care." The coworker expressed surprise, stating, "Wow... I wanted to go over the file... but I guess that is somehow crossing professional boundaries." The woman clarified that there was no professional need for him to contact her privately via text, as they have minimal direct work interaction, seeing each other in the office approximately once every three months. She provided her email address for work-related inquiries.
In response, the coworker sent a thumbs-up emoji, followed by two audio recordings which had already been deleted by the time she attempted to open them. The woman shared her distress, noting that she barely knew the individual and felt compelled to respond only after his persistent messages. She indicated her intention to report the incident to Human Resources.
Online reactions to her post largely supported her actions, with many users advising her to report the coworker's behavior to HR. Comments described the actions as "creepy" and "insanely inappropriate," with some suggesting his excuses for contacting her were disingenuous. One user shared a similar experience involving a coworker who obtained her personal number from an emergency contact list and began making unwanted contact, which ultimately led to the coworker's termination after a formal complaint.
The incident highlights concerns about workplace privacy and professional boundaries, particularly regarding unsolicited contact outside of established communication channels and work hours.