This is horrifying to hear. How long ago was this? Of course it could be “just last week” given how these same issues persist today. A lot of what you mentioned resonates with me on how women struggle (especially women of color) to be taken seriously for how talented they are. I’m currently working with one who is a scientist as well, whose manager refuses to compensate her for her time at events representing the organization. Worse, we have a telecommuting policy that is organization wide, but she has yet to be allowed to work from home once, while our new hire in our team was able to do so right away and is of ‘lower rank’ than her. It makes no sense that we still have constant double standards in operation. When I mentioned to my scientist colleague that her time is valuable and that she should be compensated for event time, she cried. I’m the type of person that stubbornly ensures that I’m not played by double standards when I can identify them, but she’s the type that doesn’t want to make waves. I’m trying to find a way to help her without making her work life more complicated but it’s a struggle.
Thank you for sharing this story, and I’m sorry for your losing such an incredibly talented co-worker.
It feels absolutely absurd to have to address any prudish or hesitant (because of worry of sexual abuse accusations or otherwise) behavior to save the life of a person, just because they have breasts. That said, I get it and I’m also glad that if this was a problem before, that it’s getting corrected now. This is your sign to get CPR/AED certified now! Link for those in the USA: https://www.redcross.org/take-a-class/aed/aed-training/aed-certification