It didn't take long for me to realize that HR is created to be a mediator, but more important it is there to protect the company over anything else. Those situations you described are absolutely ridiculous but I can't say I'm too surprised by it.

I remember reading another article (I can't remember the author unfortunately) but she was mentioning how Black women aren't allowed to be introverts at work. Like there's this thin line we have to walk between being "too much" and "too little" and it's probably one of the most stressful things about working in the corporate world other than the actual work. One of my coworkers had people complaining about her "laughing too loud" and another coworker had people complaining that they were "unfriendly" and "intimidating" (of course, she was literally just minding her business and doing her work. It's not like she was mean to them).