TAS Can I Take Legal Action for Harassment?

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bakergirl

Member
14 July 2016
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0
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When I was 18 (I am 20 now), I was working full time as a receptionist at a big company. At the time, I also had a boyfriend whom I loved dearly.

There was a guy in my workplace that worked on in a different department. I didn't really know him, but it was my job to send out company absences to the company. One day, he responded via email with something flirty. I did flirt back with him. I don't even know how it happened but we became friends on snapchat and then somehow he had gotten me to send him one "sexy" picture. That's when it all started.

From then on, he blackmailed me that he would send that picture to my family, friends and boyfriend. He blackmailed me into sending more and more pictures. It's started to get really messed up. He made me give him oral sex in the bathroom at work. He then took a picture of it. He would send it me via text whenever I didn't reply to him, just to remind me that I didn't have a choice. He started leaving notes on my desk.

I told him I wanted it to stop and I begged him. He would make me feel guilty by convincing me that his wife had cancer and she never has sex with him so he just can't help himself. He said that he only had a few years left to live so the police wouldn't do anything. I believed him. He demanded I meet him before work.

He came to my street where I live and demanded that I came and gave him oral sex or he would leak images of me. It became too much for me. My boyfriend and I split up. The harassment got worse. I started drinking. I was drinking most of my wage, even drinking before work.

At the same time, I was being bullied by one of the girls in admin. I went to my boss about being bullied by her. They did nothing and ignored my formal complaint of workplace bullying. I didn't feel I could tell them. After months of being sexually harassed, assaulted and blackmailed, I quit. I then got a casual job and had that for about a month. Up until 8 months ago, he was still making fake Facebook accounts and trying to contact me, sending me pictures of myself from fake accounts.

It has now stopped but since then, I haven't been able to hold down a job or work due to anxiety, panic attacks and sheer fear of the workplace. It has affected all aspects of my life.

I don't think I have any evidence of the threats or any of our messages.

Is there any legal action I can take against him or the company?

I am also worried if I took legal action, he might still have images and try and leak them.

I also do not want my family to know. Could I take legal action quietly?
 

sammy01

Well-Known Member
27 September 2015
5,152
720
2,894
If you don't have any messages that show intimidation then it suggests that you were consenting... I also think that with all of your emotional trauma, you'd be better off letting it go. A court case will be a criminal case and as such, I don't see what you'll achieve other than possibly causing him to get a criminal record.

As far as the company goes, I fail to see how they are liable as you didn't inform them of what the bloke was doing