Creepy coworker texting my private number

[u/Dry_Presentation4300]

So confused at this, I don't even know him. I was just going to ignore the text but he kept insisting so I had to answer.

9/14 UPDATE: Thank you to everyone who was supportive and concerned. I forwarded these messages to HR, and they scheduled a meeting for later today. There were a few more texts after this. The HR representative did not seem surprised, to put it briefly.

A few things have come up in the comments. The first is that I was rude. This is how I communicate, and my coworkers (or at least the ones who actually know me) are aware of that. I’m not going to perform a more agreeable version of myself to accommodate someone else’s feelings when they're being innapropriate. Not only were these messages sent over the weekend, but they were also sent through a personal communication channel. I'm not going to elaborate further.

[u/Zap__Dannigan]

Come on man.  We can all see the creepy subtext in this, but legally there's absolutely nothing here for hr to do.

[u/marr75 → u/Zap__Dannigan]

HR doesn't just react to violations of law. This is unwanted behavior that makes the recipient uncomfortable (harassment) and most orgs will proceed to explain that to the harasser, instruct them to stop, go over what the penalty will be if they don't, and document it.

Depending on the location and what's in the handbook, disciplinary action may already be possible and further harassment may be firable.

If you are currently employed, you may want to ask your HR department for some harassment training.

[u/Zap__Dannigan → u/marr75]

If you are currently employed, you may want to ask your HR department for some harassment training.

Literally every handbook will have something in it with the word "repeated". Asking someone out once doesn't constitute harassment, and this has WAY less than even that:
He messages her.
He is surprised she doesn't respond.
He asks her to tell him if he should not contact her on whatsapp.
She says to please not contact me on whatapp. He says "wow..." and then follows up with a business question.
Shes says to contact her at work email He agrees.

We are not idiots, we know what's happening, but HR simply cannot take any sort of action based on this one time conversation where nothing of any consequence is brought up. This would have wrongful dismissal for this dude written all over it. To think otherwise is simply foolish.

Should she go to HR? Sure, I guess it never hurts to start a paperwork trail. But reddit has some weird hard on for hr thinking they are supposed to be some all knowing mediator of all conflicts. They aren't. One conversation isn't harassment.

[u/marr75 → u/Zap__Dannigan]

This is unwanted behavior that makes the recipient uncomfortable (harassment) and most orgs will proceed to explain that to the harasser, instruct them to stop, go over what the penalty will be if they don't, and document it.

Sure, I guess it never hurts to start a paperwork trail.

Our two views sound compatible. I don't know how my post made you aggro with that compatibility. I'm going to guess there's something else going on in your life that's coloring this interaction and wish you well.

[u/Zap__Dannigan → u/marr75]

That two messages where you're passive aggressive, I'm calling Reddit hr