I think if I were that friend, I'd have been on the phone shouting for police backup. Holding someone captive to do work they weren't interested in doing? That's akin to kidnapping!

She's learning the hard way, Gabriella, but she's learning how to handle it. I didn't like the tone of her letter – almost apologetic for getting upset. No way. Get upset. You have the right to be treated decently by ANYONE, especially companies and coworkers.

Paula, had it been me, he'd have been decked. I had one man treat me like that (you do NOT talk about anyone's cleavage at work, especially mine), and I came close to decapitating him. Maybe because I had ten years on him or maybe because I'd learned to assert my boundaries, but he learned a valuable lesson – don't mess with women.

Thanks, Hugh. I'm lucky to have a daughter like her. 🙂 Nothing may come of it beyond the BBB being notified, but someone knows and it will be part of public record.

It's no secret that work (and life) often require us to make compromises large & small — but compromising our dignity & our safety should *never* be on that list. Unfortunately, of course, many of us learn this lesson the hard way.

Hope your letters prompt some real action — who knows how many others have been subjected to the same experience that your daughter was?

Not that this is in any way a revelation, but your daughter's clearly lucky to have you as a mom.

I can't say it's human nature, but a lot of us tend to put others' needs, hurts and wants over our own, so we'll fight to the death to help someone else before we'll do the same for ourselves.

What a crappy, crappy experience. So sorry to hear about it.

This is plain and simple harassment, and I'm so glad your daughter had the good sense to complain and that you gave her a lesson in how to complain professionally but with a bite.

I suppose your daughter was going to have to learn sometime that there are serious scumbags out there in the business world. But I wish it hadn't been at such great financial cost. Hope she gets reimbursed, but scumbags like that aren't likely to see her point without nudging/legal threats.

But in addition to that lesson, I really like that she also learned how a smart, strong businesswoman should respond to idiocy! You turned a terrible experience into a life-long lesson in toughness.

Julianne, that's a pretty awful bait-and-switch. It's frustrating, isn't it? You look for what you think is a decent job only to find out they've worded the ad to lure you into a sales job. Just say it's sales. There are plenty of salespeople out there looking for work.

Sarah, I hope so, too. She's running out of funds and may have to come back home.

Devon, that is awful. The temp agency is supposed to protect its workforce. These days they will (if they don't, the liability is through the roof). Too much in the past was overlooked or avoided.

Wendy, she'll be fine once she's employed. 🙂 I think her mother's teaching her not to take someone else's garbage had her come up with the idea. Once she told me about the harassment – and I had to tell her that yes, that was harassment – she decided to write a letter. I'm glad she knew to do at least that much. 🙂

But I tell you, I've had to suppress my desire to verbally accost that company. It's not my battle. It's hers.