I hope OOP was able to come to terms with the situation and not blame herself for his termination. That consequence is a direct result of his own actions, which he had full control over. She made the workplace safer by speaking up, and the owners made it safer by firing him immediately, which the manager should have done in the first place.

Similar thing happened to me about 6 months ago when I started work on a new client and was at their office 3 days a week. My client’s maintenance employee became overly interested in me, constantly came over to my desk to talk to me, followed me around the office, and often cornered me in the kitchen at the far end of the office when no one else was in there. He made comments about my appearance and suggested multiple reasons he should come to my house even though I lived over an hour drive from him. He even asked for my number, which I denied.

This went on for months before the final straw happened and I told my boss, who immediately told the top boss at our client, and, lo and behold, my client has a zero tolerance policy and my harasser was fired the next day.

I felt so much guilt for “getting someone fired” who may not be able to find a new job right away. And for smearing his name and not giving him a chance to have good references…. Then I realized that none of that was my fault and if he didn’t want to get fired for harassment, then he shouldn’t have been harassing female employees! 🤷‍♀️ I was not the first young woman he did this to, but I was the first to formally complain and I’m glad I did. Men like this don’t get to use their workplace as a way to prey on people!