If someone at work says to “please stop talking to me” and “go away” when you meet them, is it harassment to block their path?

[BarryLiverstone]

Was watching the movie Elf last night and it struck me that Jovie clearly gave no consent when approached :

https://youtu.be/v-mJ1XPb1dU?si=DP9iI2bfRrBR1icp

[mandyfire98]

If somebody says stop talking to me and leave me alone or go away, and the other person doesn't? That's harassment.

[BarryLiverstone]

That’s what I thought. Yet (yes I know it’s a fictional movie) it seems like in this scene the female lead likes what Buddy does.

[mandyfire98]

Yeah I think all humans if they say no, don't or stop they pretty much mean it and ignoring that would be harassment

[Anonymous]

They didn't have those stupid 'consent' rules back then, people were adult enough to handle their own interactions with other people.

[BarryLiverstone]

Do you mean the workplace harassment rules are fairly new?

[BarryLiverstone]

Would be nice to have people responsible enough to not harass others yk

[DishLady]

It's not harassment just to ask for someone to stop speaking to you. Expressing that you'd like space is not a form of harassment.

Actually, in the video it's clear that she's just annoyed by his holiday spirit. She actually shakes his hand at the end of the scene and says "See you tomorrow" indicating that she doesn't consider his conversation (which was generally conducted with the appropriate space, tone, etc. of respectful workplace communication) a form of harassment either.

The GenZ obsession with the term "consent" and "comfortable" is too much and gives those of us who work in HR such a f****ing unnecessary load of paperwork to do. You're actually harming the system by doing this bc we don't get to critical complaints about legitimate harassment issues. Freaking doughnuts.

[Lenabfine]

I am not sure. If it is an ongoing problem then yes.

[BarryLiverstone]

True. If they keep doing it over and over that’s def harassment

[12karen]

she dodn't look harassed or uncomfortable

[12karen]

but if the person starts raising their voice or showing signs of discomfort.., I think in that case it is harassment.

[BarryLiverstone]

Thank you for answering. I just thought that she used her words to ask him to stop talking to her and that he used his body to block her path. If she didn’t feel discomfort then why tell him to go away?

[12karen]

because he forced her to do something she doesn't want to do (she’s clearly insecure about her singing in front of everyone) and they are working, he could have talked to her during the break

[BarryLiverstone]

Exactly. He could have waited and talked to her later. But she asked him to stop even before the singing and he didn’t stop.