Sexual assault by a manager
Back in 2017, I worked for TJX UK at HomeSense.
Like many stores, we had a Christmas meal and night out planned. Around that time, a new store manager had started with us, so the evening was also a bit of a celebration.
During the night, I made a few comments to a colleague about confusion around my sexuality at the time, I was only 18/19. The store manager overheard the conversation and, for the rest of the night, seemed to make it his mission to pursue me.
He repeatedly got far too close to me and, while we were in a club, he groped me multiple times. I told him to stop more than once, but he ignored me.
Eventually, a few colleagues and I left and went to a local chip shop. Not long after, he turned up and asked to speak to me alone. During that conversation, he tried to kiss me and touch me again. I told him clearly that I wasn’t interested, and he eventually left.
After that, he called my phone around 10–15 times. I answered once, and he asked me to get in a taxi and meet him at a hotel room. I said no.
I went home that night feeling completely unlike myself.
The next morning, he was back at work opening the store and processing delivery with a good friend of mine. According to my friend, he was bragging about “getting with me” and saying we’d had a good night.
Later, the district manager and loss prevention manager came to speak to me.
I will never forget the first thing they said:
“Don’t go to the media.”
Not “How are you?”
Not “Do you need support?”
Nothing.
They even asked if I would be comfortable continuing to work in the same store while the manager kept his position, suggesting we simply work different shifts so we wouldn’t interact.
A worldwide company like TJX suggesting I should continue working alongside a manager who sexually assaulted me is something I still struggle to process to this day.
I’ve wanted to share this for a long time, and finally talking about it with former colleagues and others now feels right. Honestly, it feels good to finally say it out loud.
So if you’re going through something alone: speak up. You are not alone.