I work as a painter on a construction site, mostly on residential projects. Today, I saw my coworker expose his private part while painting on a ladder. He’s new, just started three days ago, and I’m also new, today is only my second day. He’s in his late 30s or 40s, while I’m in my early 20s. Most of my teammates are around his age, and I’m the only woman on the team, although there are other trades and the builder working on-site as well. Today, he was painting alone in a room close to lunchtime. I went in to grab my water bottle and saw him on the ladder, with his D** exposed while on the ladder near the entrance door, which literally the slap in my face when I walked in the room. WTF. I was so shocked that I stayed quiet and acted like I didn’t see anything and just act like nothing happened and still talked normally around him. But inside I’m like WTF is wrong with the dude.
I’m not sure how to handle this. Was my reaction appropriate? Should I have said something? It was really disturbing, especially since we’re on a job site. He seems to get along well with the rest of the team, who are all men and around his age, while I still feel awkward as it’s only my second day. Tomorrow is my third day…and I’ll be working with him again.
Was this an accident, or does it count as sexual harassment?