I’m not arguing that this must have been elevator-man’s motivation, but that not wanting to risk asking someone out in front of lots of others is a very common sentiment.
Even if we grant this, it doesn’t affect the conclusion that Elevator Guy behaved unreasonably. The reason this particular incident attracted so much attention in the first place was because it involved such a perfect storm of disturbing/threatening factors. Each of these factors might have been considered quite mild when taken in isolation, but the problem was ‘death by a thousand cuts’.
Even if we grant this, it doesn’t affect the conclusion that Elevator Guy behaved unreasonably. The reason this particular incident attracted so much attention in the first place was because it involved such a perfect storm of disturbing/threatening factors. Each of these factors might have been considered quite mild when taken in isolation, but the problem was ‘death by a thousand cuts’.