Two months ago, I started a new job that began with onsite training, eventually moving to working from home. The first day after we transitioned to WFH, I received messages through social media from one of the members in my training group. In these messages she called me a bitch, a monster, demonic, and evil; she accused me of making transphobic comments among other things and made threats towards me trying to lie because she had the receipts. This was a person I had minimal interaction with during the four weeks we spent training together. I immediately brought these messages to my supervisors and HR. After a lengthy investigation was conducted, it was determined to be “a misunderstanding” (read: there were no receipts or proof of any kind regarding her accusations) and that my personality was described as “larger than, eccentric, confident, and vocal.” Because of this, I needed to be “mindful of my personality which others may not be receptive too, even though they appear to be welcoming to it.”

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Did this motherfucker HR person really just blame my CONFIDENT PERSONALITY as to the reason for being called a “coked out bitch”, among other things?! ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME. For too long women have been chastised for being “too … “ Too Loud. Too Confident. Too arrogant. Too sexy. Too prudish. We are sexually assaulted for it. We are fired for it. We are passed over for promotions for it. We are harassed, ridiculed, threatened, degraded, ostracized. And now I have the head of HR promoting this very idea as for why I received these 100% unprovoked messages.

You think I have a big personality? That it’s “larger than”? Bitch, you haven’t begun to see the full extend of who I am and what I’m capable of.