Is It Too Late to Address a Sexist Comment from a Former Colleague? Seeking Advice on Past Workplace Issues

The incident

A senior employee, in 2017, during a discussion with a subordinate female employee regarding her poor performance, commented, "You have become blunt after marriage," six months after her marriage. Is this comment sexist and inconsiderate?

It should be noted that while the female employee worked from Monday to Saturday before marriage, she was then assigned a project with working days from Friday to Wednesday immediately after getting married. It was widely recognized in the office that she was unable to spend quality time with her partner and was not granted casual leaves.

If the aforementioned comment is deemed inappropriate, can a complaint be lodged now even though the senior employee resigned in 2019 and the subordinate female employee resigned in 2022? She refrained from raising any complaints earlier to avoid potential penalties stemming from office politics.

Hi, are you the affected employee or HR of that organization? The incident took place 5 years ago. What is the point of raising the issue now? In 2017, did she make any complaint to her superiors or the PoSH Committee in the organization, if it existed at that time? The senior is a bit rude with his comment. However, considering the time frame and also as both parties involved were not working in the same organization, I suggest the issue can be ignored.

Dear member,

The woman employee is smart and is playing it safe. However, she is also half-clever!

Background of the case

Nevertheless, when raising the post, you did not provide the background of the case. In what capacity did you raise this post? Were you the senior employee in question, the woman employee who received the comment, or a third party? If you were a third party, were you a witness to the incident? When the incident occurred, did the woman employee object to the word "blunt"? If so, what explanation did the senior employee provide?

Incident details

The incident took place in 2017, and yet the woman employee remained silent until 2022. However, following her resignation and the resignation of the senior employee, she now wishes to bring up the matter again. This suggests that there may be more to this situation than meets the eye. Did they have a personal relationship that turned sour, leading her to bring up this incident from the past to settle a score?

Company's role

Your company can address matters concerning current employees. If the woman has filed a formal grievance application, she may be informed that as both parties are former employees, the company's administration cannot intervene.

Interpretation of "blunt"

Regarding the statement "You have become blunt after marriage," the key word is "blunt," which has various meanings. Therefore, if the senior employee is asked for an explanation, he could argue that he meant "a loss of sharpness." If questioned about the sharpness of what, he could explain that he meant "intellectual sharpness." Expressing sorrow or lament over the decline in intellectual sharpness should not be misconstrued as an offense.

Thanks,

Dinesh Divekar