SteelResolveNot specifiedThe Meridian PostMediaMay 29, 2026·15d ago

My whole team witnessed it. No one said anything until I left.

I was an editor at a media company. We were a small team — eight people who sat together in an open-plan office. Everyone knew everyone. My editor-in-chief had a habit of making "compliments" that weren't compliments. Telling me my writing was "surprisingly good for someone who looked like me." Asking in team meetings if I "had plans this weekend" in a way that felt loaded. Sending feedback on my articles with notes that had nothing to do with the work. The incident that made me leave happened in a full team meeting. He made a comment about my body — framed as a joke — and the room went quiet for a second, then someone laughed nervously, and the meeting continued. I submitted my resignation two weeks later. What happened next surprised me. Three colleagues sent me private messages saying they were "so sorry," that they'd "always felt uncomfortable" with how he treated me, that they "should have said something." One of them said she'd witnessed the same thing happen to someone before me. No one said anything while I was there. No one said anything while it was happening. The words came after I was already gone, when saying them cost nothing. I'm not angry at my colleagues. I understand the fear. But I do think about how different things might have been if even one person had spoken up in that room.
2 comments

2 Comments

SilentWitness12d ago

Sharing this helps others know they're not alone. Thank you.

BraveVoice9112d ago

Thank you for sharing this. You are not alone.

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