[Simon_O_Rourke]

Not quite as damaging, but I was accused of harassment from some blue-haired weirdo on a video call with nearly a hundred people at work. Like you, this was a person I had zero interaction with prior to the call.

I considered getting a lawyer involved because I feared this could blow up, but was talked out of it by my boss, who asked me to apologize and "let's leave it at that".

[fidgewidge]

So you apologized to someone you had no interactions with for harassing them, even though the claim was false?

[Simon_O_Rourke]

No, I didn't communicate with them ever again - but my boss wanted me to apologize to "help clear the air". My boss was worried about their position, and went with the best option to help their own career if things blew up.

[rswskg]

That's so depressing. I avoid blue hairs like the plague, to hear they will go after you anyway, yet another reason not to participate at work.

[sgt]

Didn't the 100 people on the call see that it wasn't harassment? What could possibly have happened to make the weirdo think you were harassing him?

[tablespoon]

> Didn't the 100 people on the call see that it wasn't harassment? What could possibly have happened to make the weirdo think you were harassing him?

Some might have, but deciding to jump in to defend the accused would result in a decent chance of the defender getting targeted themselves, in some fashion.

[Simon_O_Rourke]

Simple - kudos from a VP on a project my team had been working on.