A female college graduate in Vietnam has resigned after being asked to kiss an older male colleague during a boozy company team-building event.
On August 14, Huynh Anh My told Dantri, a Vietnamese online newspaper, that during an internship last year, she took part in the mandatory event with a company in Hanoi.
Skipping the seaside trip would have resulted in penalties or extra work.
Huynh and her colleagues were on the beach taking part in a water-carrying competition, when she began to feel tired.
“The weather was scorching, and I was exhausted from hauling buckets of water. I noticed that a female colleague, sat to rest but was playfully pushed into the sea by a male colleague. I could not help but think, this is torture, not team-building,” Huynh said.
After the competition, her team leader suggested everyone play a drinking game.
“A male colleague, about the same age as my father said if I did not finish three glasses of alcohol in one go, I had to kiss him,” she said.
Huynh was aghast and wondered to herself why there were such “weird, perverted games”.
She said the colleague then walked over to her, grabbed her hand, and insisted she drink.
“I burst into tears because he kept getting close to my face and I was so scared. It wasn’t until I managed to drink all three glasses that he finally stopped and moved on to another girl.
“After this, I was terrified and anxious for days, and I could not face anyone at the company. Eventually, I resigned,” she said.
Huynh reported the incident to her supervisor before resigning but received no feedback.
In Vietnam, employees can unilaterally terminate their employment contract due to workplace sexual harassment, with offenders facing fines of up to VND30 million (US$1,200).
Huynh’s story resonated with many netizens on social media.
“This is sexual harassment. Team-building activities should be gentle and respectful to all employees,” one online observer wrote.
“Not only young women, but people of any age and gender can experience workplace harassment,” said another.
A third person shared a similar personal experience: “In my previous company, I had to carry a female colleague in a princess-style during a group activity, and both of us felt very uncomfortable with it.”
There have been other reports about inappropriate behaviour in offices across Asia.
A Chinese netizen on Zhihu told of a catering company in northeastern China that held a team-building event in 2021 where leaders played a mouth-to-mouth paper-passing game with new employees.
In Japan, sighing in the office, which can indicate dissatisfaction with, or dislike for, colleagues, could be regarded as “mood harassment”.
