Woman publicly shames businessman who called her ‘doable’ on LinkedIn

A woman who was branded ‘doable’ by a businessman on LinkedIn has publicly shamed him for his vulgar comments.

Recruitment consultant Sarah Jay, who works in the healthcare industry, shared a photograph from a black-tie work event in August on the career-driven social media platform.

But the 24-year-old was left ‘infuriated’ when she received a private message after posting the picture from a businessman who told her ‘you’re so doable’..

After telling the man to keep his ‘vulgar opinions to himself,’ he tried to justify his behaviour and blamed her for sharing a ‘sexy profile picture’.

The picture in question showed Sarah smiling at the camera while wearing a long black dress.

She later decided to expose the user’s ‘unacceptable’ behaviour in a public post, which she captioned ‘the reality of being a woman on LinkedIn’.

Many users praised her for ‘speaking out’ against the ‘shocking’ messages and the majority condemned the man’s behaviour – but a small number suggested her pictures were not ‘professional’ enough for the site.

Sarah, from Ipswich, Suffolk, said: ‘It infuriates me. It is a professional photo. It was at a work event. It’s not like it was revealing in any way.

‘But even if it was, it doesn’t mean you’re able to say those sorts of comments. It makes you feel disgusting.

‘I don’t want him thinking of me that way from a professional photo that was taken at a work event.

‘It was just him carrying it on for no reason. I’d already told him “this isn’t professional. This needs to stop. I’ll be removing you as a connection”.

‘He still tried to justify it because of my profile picture being “sexy” and it shouldn’t be on a professional platform.

‘That’s why he thought it was acceptable to say such vulgar things because of my profile picture.

‘Even though I shouldn’t have to justify myself I felt like I kind of had to.

‘I’m open to receiving compliments, that’s absolutely fine. But keep it professional and there’s no need to make vulgar comments saying I’m “doable”. It’s not nice.

‘On a professional platform I want to focus on my professional skills. It is not a dating site.’

The recruitment consultant admitted she wanted to expose the LinkedIn user’s ‘disgraceful’ language to spread awareness before blocking and reporting his profile as well as notifying his workplace.

Sarah said: ‘The only reason why I did post it was because I’d had quite a few vulgar, weird messages from men on LinkedIn previously. It’s not just LinkedIn, it has been other social media platforms as well.

‘Obviously receiving messages like this is gross. You don’t expect it as well, especially from LinkedIn, but it is quite common.

‘It’s disgusting that other people do get things like that coming through as well. I do see other posts about it as well.

‘A lot of people scribble out their name and picture to try and protect them.

‘But I thought “if someone can be vulgar like that and go against their company when they’re representing them, then why can’t I post about it and post their name and photo and make it known that this person who works for this company is disgraceful”?’

By handling the situation ‘professionally’ she wanted to represent her company well and avoid losing her job.

Sarah said: ‘I did handle it quite professionally so that’s why I also posted it to show that you just have to be a bigger person.

‘He’s representing his company and I’m representing mine.

‘If it was one of my private social media accounts I probably wouldn’t have remained so calm but because I’m on LinkedIn I’m representing my own company.

‘I don’t want to come across rude to a certain extent or say horrible things which then obviously would cause backlash for my company as well and could cause me to possibly lose my job if I’m overstepping a line.

‘I don’t want to put my job at risk. They are such vulgar comments but it’s still my company I’m representing on LinkedIn.’

The 24-year-old revealed being a young woman can be difficult in her career and she has even dealt with ‘vulgar’ comments in the workplace.

Sarah said: ‘It’s horrible. Yes, I’m a woman. I’m a younger woman as well and I do have quite a few tattoos which a few people do point out. There’s a certain way to say things and to compliment, not in a vulgar or predatory way.

‘With recruitment sometimes it’s a bit of a male-dominated career. I’ve had a few vulgar comments even in the office before when I’ve worked in recruitment previously.

‘Employees saying things about me or even going through my personal social media as well and things being said about me. It can be degrading.

‘There’s no need for that to be in the workplace. It’s not nice people saying things about certain things or sexualising certain things about me when it’s just not needed.’

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