Remembering an office incident where I faced a cross-cultural issue, A female coworker Carol (changed name) was from London and a male coworker Sid was from India. The girl was very friendly and...

Remembering an office incident where I faced a cross-cultural issue, A female coworker Carol (changed name) was from London and a male coworker Sid was from India. The girl was very friendly and open-minded towards hanging out with other male staff. We often go to parties and cafes to have fun after our office. There comes an issue, Sid lives near carol's house, hence after-parties, he used to drop her at her home. Being an open-minded person carol used to hug him or just pat him on his shoulder. However, Sid took it in the wrong way, and he started taking these signs as a hint that she likes him. And he started even telling everyone about this. Since carol was a strong and calm lady hence, she did not give an ear to any of those gossips. But one day Sid proposed to her and asked her that I know you also like me. Now here comes the issue, she burst at him that in my country, helping others and being friendly with them not comes under liking. And you without even knowing what I feel about you, started spreading rumors. She then complains to the HR team about his behavior, and he was even punished for this. He was shifted to another department. But it does affect carol's work as he spread such rumors and people often gossips about it. Carol started sitting alone and isolated herself to stay away from all negativities. But even after carol was not able to concentrate on her work whole heartily. Then she consulted a counselor and took some medical help. She finally gets some relief after her counseling sessions and gets back to her work with full enthusiasm. We often face some situations that are very small in general, and they leave a big impact on people.

 What was (were) the cross-cultural issue(s) at play? And could they have been handled diffently?