WIBTA if I reported a co-worker for tickling my side?

NTA. I'm a professor with a law degree and I routinely teach law surrounding sexual harassment. Your scenario is a pretty classic beginning to what is referred to as a hostile workplace environment. Psychologically, he is testing your boundaries and has specifically chosen you because you are young and a new worker. He believes he has the greatest chance of success in harassing you because of that, and he is just going to be waiting to see if you report him or make a fuss. If you do not, he will escalate his behavior. Guaranteed. I can also guarantee you are not the first woman he has tried this with.

Please report him without delay to HR. I'm sure your family means well but they don't know enough about this topic to give you good advice. I do. I study and teach it. Your company has legal obligations to deal with this kind of issue and has procedures in place to do so.

As a woman, it pisses me off that so many women (and yes, men too, but women are the primary victims) have to deal with this, especially young women who deserve a safe, comfortable place to work. As a pragmatist, this behavior isn't going away anytime soon, and you'll encounter it in other jobs too, so you might as well get good at dealing with it.

/r/AmItheAsshole Thread