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Moved the update to the bottom so that newcomers to this question can read it in order.

Supervisor commenting on appearance. Inappropriate?

I work for a big company and am fairly new. I'm on my third or fourth week and was transferred to a new (bigger) dept where it's all men. I am the only woman. I'm also fairly young at 25 years old. Today when I went to drop off something with one of my many supervisors (32 years old) he yelled across the dock and asked "Why do you dress like a school teacher?!"

He yelled so loud that everyone in our vicinity heard it and it made me feel so uncomfortable. I made a bad attempt at trying to brush it off and said, "Well how do you know I don't sub in the mornings?"

I almost never have a problem brushing off negative comments but this bothered me the whole day. Especially since it started at the beginning of my shift.

Am I overreacting or is this behavior okay? It drove me nuts because it almost seems like he was asking why I'm so covered up. I was wearing a button up shirt and slacks with flats. The dress code is business casual.


UPDATE: Thanks for all of your input. I had the day to think it over and cool down. I prepared myself to go into work and try to play it by ear. Sure enough as I was attempting to punch in I ran into him, and he immediately commented on my appearance and said, "you see, you look less like a teacher today. Still, a little but less." All while not hiding the fact that he's eyeing every inch of me up and down. I stared at him and said, "Seriously? You're doing this again?" He laughed and I walked away. Within the hour he brought it up again, except this time HIS boss was there and I brought him into the conversation. I got even more upset because the higher up just laughed it off. I walked away realizing I was going to get nowhere. The next time I saw him he apologized and said he didn't mean to offend me, and he saw the "look" in my eyes. Said he didn't realize he was crossing the line.

For the record: when this incident first occurred, two other men immediately informed me about the harassment hot-line and even confronted him, but he chalked it up as sarcasm and laughed it off. He actually knew the number by heart and said "I'm surprised I still work here."

To the person who said I'm not dressed appropriately for the environment: I work in the office but constantly have to walk out to the dock which is why MY dress code is different from theirs. I agree I should be dressing more casually, but as a new employee and the guidelines I was given by my direct boss I need to follow them: collared shirt, slacks, optional jeans on Fridays, and professional shoes. Although it seems only the women in the neighboring dept follow the dress code (typical).

Moving forward I will continue to document and if this behavior escalates I will consider reporting it. At the end of the day, he has seniority and I am just some new employee. Even if HR reprimanded him it wouldn't wind up making his job harder, just mine by either him retaliating or isolating me.

Eliana
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