On International Women’s Day, local boss Mitchell Dawson made sure to call his female coworkers “sweetie” throughout the day.

“I thought it would be the best way to make sure they knew how much we appreciate having them here,” Dawson explained.

When female employees expressed annoyance, Dawson said he made sure to dispel rumors of sexism.

“I’d ask them if they knew it was International Women’s Day, because let’s be honest, it probably slipped their minds,” Dawson said. “Luckily, I was very patient while explaining that to them.”

“I went to HR to explain the situation,” said Brenda Sandburg. “But they told me to take a deep breath, smile, and come back when I’m not feeling so emotional.”

After a male employee told Dawson how he was coming across to female employees, Dawson reported feeling dismayed.

“I decided to raise my girls’ wages to give them 89 cents to every male employee’s dollar, a whole 10 cents higher than the national average of 79 cents to every man’s dollar,” Dawson said. “But only for International Women’s Day.”