So:<p>In the writer's own words, she did not respond honestly to his advances as she hoped to advance her career through his acquaintance:<p>> While I tried to politely decline his advances, he was in a position of power over me in this industry. He said he knew my bosses, he knew where I worked, and he promised he’d help advance my career. I felt it best to stay in his “good graces” and not be flat out rude.<p>She did finally realize her mistake:<p>> I now understand how wrong this dynamic is.<p>And responded as she should have first. With the result that he stopped pestering her:<p>> We haven’t spoken for over a year, as the last time I saw him I finally had the courage and support system to be direct, cold, and tell him to leave me alone.<p>In my book, the guy's a bit of a thickie and a more than a little creepy. Eww. But she, by her explicit admission, did not let him know his advances were unwanted in a "direct, cold" way because SHE HOPED TO GAIN FINANCIALLY AND PROFESSIONALLY BY DOING SO.<p>In a nutshell: He clumsily tried to get laid and she strung him along for what she could get out of him.<p>Eww.<p>Running book on how long that post stays up before she edits it.
Moral of the story is HR is useless. They are not here to make you feel more comfortable. They are here to make sure nothing bad happens to the company.
Reading this made me really sad. The organization's response was straight up unjust. They should've ejected the male speaker and prevented him from attending the conference at all.