There’s no excuse for sexism in the workplace. And you’d think that members of the older generation would know to be gentlemen and to treat women with respect. Unfortunately, the opposite seems to be true in some companies.

Redditor u/dracula912 shared a story about how his 21-year-old niece quit her job with a bang. Or rather, a slap! The young woman had gotten a job as a secretary at a tax and accounting firm. However, there were plenty of red flags from day one.

Her boss, the managers, and coworkers were extremely sexist, patronizing, and dismissive. Things came to a head during one meeting when her boss put a hand on her shoulder while explaining that she needed to be “more compliant” at work. She couldn’t take it anymore. Scroll down for the full story, dear Pandas.

A 21-year-old secretary had to deal with constant sexism and harassment from her older male colleagues

Image credits: Sam Edwards (not the actual photo)

Things came to a head during one work meeting when she decided that enough was enough

Image credits: dracula912

When you read the entire story, you wonder how anyone could ever thrive or even survive in such a toxic workplace. The people there are horrid. And HR seems to be more interested in protecting the company than the actual employees being harassed.

However, quite a few redditors stressed the fact that what the secretary did to her boss—slapping him and screaming at him as she quit—could potentially backfire in the future. Namely, she has potentially left herself open to a lawsuit.

What’s more, she should speak to a lawyer about the sexual harassment she endured and the overtime pay that she missed out on.

Earlier, life coach Lindsay Hanson pointed out to Bored Panda that each of us is individually responsible for setting the boundaries at work that we’re willing to tolerate. If HR turns a blind ear to our criticism about our colleagues, you can still try talking to management directly about the issues that you have.

“If you feel that there’s nothing you can do to change the situation and the company or people involved are unwilling to change, then you have to decide whether you’re willing to stay in that environment or not,” the expert said.

Lindsay stressed that it’s up to us to decide if we should leave or stay and try to change the company from the inside, for the better. “A good question to ask yourself is, even if this toxic situation were to change, would I still want to work here?”

According to her, there’s always a way out of toxic situations, even if we feel pressured financially or otherwise. “There are still companies hiring. There are still ways to make money on your own. There is always a way to change your current situation—telling yourself you’re stuck feels very limiting.”

Here’s how people reacted to the story on r/AskReddit. Some of them had some important advice to share

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