A woman was told to sue for sexual harassment after tweeting that her boss winked at her while handing her a suggestively-shaped vegetable - but all was not as it seemed.

Screenwriter Zoë, from New York City, tweeted a picture of a large courgette - known as a zucchini in the US - and told her 3,000 followers that she was perplexed by the gift and the suggestive wink that accompanied it.

It quickly went viral, with many of her friends urging her to 'go straight to HR' or sue her boss as they presumed a man had inappropriately given her the vegetable.

But it later transpired that in fact an 'older white woman who takes pride in her garden' had given her the mini marrow.

Screenwriter Zoë tweeted her confusion when her female boss gave her a zucchini with a wink - but many presumed her boss was a man and that it was sexually inappropriate

This well-meaning follower urged Zoë to go 'straight to HR' and collect compensation for sexual harassment

An embarassed Zoë then had to clear up the confusion and confess her boss is an 'older white woman who takes pride in her garden'

Zoë had tweeted: 'My boss gave me a zucchini... like just plopped this **** on my desk and winked. What....'

The vegetable resembled the infamous 'aubergine' emoji, that has come to symbolise sex, or male genitalia.

So naturally, many of her followers presumed the gift was an unwanted sexual advance from a male boss, particularly as it was given with a wink.

A shamefaced Zoë then had to reveal who her boss really was in a follow-up tweet after being told to sue for sexual harassment.

Zoë's followers found the tale hilarious, and the post went viral

Zoë found the saga hilarious, and had to calm down some passionate women who were getting very upset at the perceived sexual advance

She later wrote: 'Wait lemme clear some **** up lmao my boss is an older white woman who takes pride in her garden, it was just the wink that did it.'

Her explanation went even more viral than the original tweet, with 16,000 people 'liking' the hilarious confession.

One said: 'Well that de-escalated quickly,' while another admitted 'I WAS SO WRONG'.

Zoë found the entire saga hilarious, and told one follower: 'Girl you and everyone else was CONVINCED I was boutta get this payment from HR.'

She retweeted some of the most passionate comments where friends were becoming outraged on her behalf, as well as the hilarious realisations when it dawned on them that a woman and not a man had given Zoë the vegetable.