#29 “Every time I stayed late at work, when almost everyone was gone for the day, I would see this man walk over to talk flirtatiously with a couple of women engineers on his team…”

“As soon as I started on a new team at Amazon, a particular older white man would make a point of talking to me every time he saw me in the kitchen or elevator. He took up space, and even when I was heads-down and wearing headphones he tried to steal my attention away from my work.

After a few months, I went to dinner with a few men from my new team. The subject came up that there was a known problematic, predatory man on our floor. I asked if they could pull up a picture of the person, already knowing who it would be. ‘Yeah, stay away from him,’ they told me. ‘Let me know if you want me to walk you to the bathroom so you don't have to go on your own.’

Every time I stayed late at work, when almost everyone was gone for the day, I would see this man walk over to talk flirtatiously with a couple of women engineers on his team, women he outranks, women whose promotions he can veto. Of course, they accepted his presence and laughed at his jokes, regardless of their discomfort. 

This man has been reported to HR for severe sexual assault accusations, but he seems to face no consequences: he continues to hold a position of power, leading a large engineering organization within the company. Meanwhile, women who are vocal about Amazon’s impacts on climate change are fired for speaking out.”