Is it unethical to ask a coworker an unethical question when they are not at work?

in my opinion it’s an inappropriate question to ask anyone.

All I know is that Mom taught me that two wrongs don’t make a right. I don’t know if she had this in mind specifically (I’d be willing to bet heavily that she didn’t), but it seems to apply.

very inappropriate and unethical unless one have the comfort level with other to ask such question.

What does your moral compass point to?

‘Inappropriate’ and ‘awkward’ are two words that spring to mind before ‘unethical’ does. Like @Saman said, if this is someone you don’t know well or if you can’t gauge what their reaction might be beforehand, it’s probably not a good idea to ask that question. Better just to avoid it completely in my opinion.

It’s actionable as part of creating a hostile work environment. If you know some one through work, and your behavior towards them is inappropriate outside of work and your employer finds out, the employer can be held liable if they do not investigate and resolve the situation.

It is rude, crude, aggressive and highly immature. If a girl responded to such an approach, then the two of them would probably deserve each other.

Was the worker that said that Male/female….

What everyone above said. The question has less to do with an absence of “ethics” and much more a lack of good judgment, civility, human kindness, good manners, common sense and morality.

No, it would not breach common business ethics.

Not unethical – but probably very, very stupid.

If they are not at work….Where are they? …a bar….

Welcome to Fluther, by the way.

@shay you should really be answering me in this question…not messaging me. Being able to put that in context is important to be able to answer this….

With that info, I don’t think that statement is bad at all…..They are most likely flirting with each other…. even more info would help….

It is not a good idea.

According to the Sexual Harassment training that I received, it would be as likely to get you in trouble as it would if you asked it during work hours.

I wouldn’t go there. Unless you are very good friends with this person, it is likely to be very awkward and could be construed as offensive.

It’s immature and just plain wrong.

It’s intensely inappropriate, but I wouldn’t say that it has any ethical element to it. Granted, I don’t have enough context to properly evaluate the situation.