My aunt "Teddy" and I are super close. She was like a mom to me as my own mom had to work a lot and Teddy lived with us while attending college and babysat me in place of rent. I genuinely love her and always want to be on her side.
Teddy works in media/journalism not to give away too many details. Right now her job is behind the scenes/writing, but she has always wanted to go into broadcast journalism. Her boss a couple levels up is "Steve" who has been dating MIL for a year. I’d never really heard Teddy talk about Steve and didn’t think much of it, but recently Teddy asked if Steve would be at Thanksgiving and I said yes (it is our first year hosting)
Teddy got quiet and said she really didn’t want to see him. She said it’s hard seeing her boss outside of work and that he has been harassing her at work. I was immediately furious and I’ll admit jumped to conclusions. I had my phone out to send MIL a piece of my mind when Teddy told me what he had been doing.
He told her she talks too fast and that she is never going on air because she doesn’t annunciate. I’ll admit I was shocked. I told her that is not harassment. Teddy said he made her feel "uncomfortable" and "self conscious" She then said he was a hypocrite because MIL has poor elocution and bad posture. I don’t see the issue as MIL isn’t his employee and has never asked to be on TV.
I told her I am not uninviting him over that but I clearly hurt her feelings.
NTA. It is not harassment.
INFO: does Teddy have poor enunciation?
I don’t think so but she talks way too fast
So it looks like Steve has a point.
Teddy took the criticism to heart and having her boss at her table may not be the funniest thing for her but also, it doesn’t look like Steve is a bad person while Teddy lashed out at your MIL who has literally nothing to do with any of this. Not a great look.
NTA, I’ve worked in media… and that is a normal thing fr a boss to say not harassment
NTA. It sounds like Teddy is hurt because her boss gave her blunt feedback, not because he crossed a line. That sucks for her, but it isn’t harassment and you can’t uninvite your MIL’s boyfriend over that. You can still validate her feelings without rewriting what happened. Just let her know you care about her, but this isn’t a fireable offense and you can’t blow up the holiday for it.