A VIP client keeps asking me to go for a ‘casual lobster dinner’ — I’m uncomfortable but don’t want to risk my job. What should I do?

That’s why when something has the potential to go wrong at work, employees may be more nervous than ever about handling the situation correctly. And this can be especially challenging when a worker is faced with a situation that threatens the company’s relationship with an important client.

Let’s say, for example, that Ella works for a marketing company and one of their most important clients has been repeatedly asking her to go out to a casual lobster dinner. Ella is very uncomfortable with the situation, and she’s not sure how to proceed.

Fortunately, career experts have weighed in with some advice.

The best approach: Do the dinner — but not alone

Unfortunately, the client here has put Ella in a tough situation, either unintentionally or out of a misplaced desire to deepen the business relationship in an awkward way.

“This is a perfect example of a catch-22 situation,” Genie Harrison, a women’s rights and employee rights attorney and founder of Genie Harrison Law Firm, told Moneywise. “The invitation may yield a real business opportunity, but could also result in the employee experiencing inappropriate conduct from the VIP client.”

Fortunately, Harrison had a simple but creative solution for Ella. “She can respond by saying she will bring a colleague with additional relevant expertise, like someone from the merchandising team, a VP, or a marketing executive,” Harrison suggested. “If the VIP client says they do not want anyone at the dinner other than the employee at issue, then the employee knows that she, not just her business acumen, is on the menu.”

If the client doesn’t want anyone else to come along, Harrison explained, “This makes it easier for her to stand her ground and say something like, ‘Sounds like a great dinner. I will need to connect with my supervisor because we have a practice of staffing VIP client dinners with multiple team members.’ Framing it as a practice, instead of a policy, is a soft approach.”

Nicki Perchik, a career coach, executive recruiter, and the founder of a boutique executive search firm, also suggested handling the situation this way.

“If they insist on doing dinner, ask yourself why you’re not comfortable,” Perchik said. “If you feel they’re more asking you on a date, then try to include your boss. Talk to your boss first to ensure they’re OK with you doing so and understand your discomfort. Then, go back to the client and state your boss wants to join, and give days and times that work to put the ball in their court.”

Ella has the right to decline the request politely

Ella also has the right to simply decline the dinner if she doesn’t want to go at all. Several career experts have suggested a way to do so gracefully.

“Here is a response that works well,” Jan Hunter, a former recruiter and career coach, told Moneywise. “I appreciate the invitation, but I prefer to keep our relationship professional. I value our working relationship and look forward to continuing to work together.”

Akeel Mohamed, the founder of OrgInsights, a capabilities assessment platform, also suggested Ella “decline warmly and early, and put the reason on the relationship, not the person. ‘I really value working with you, and because of that I keep client relationships professional, so nothing blurs the work.’ Then move the connection back into business settings, meetings and working lunches with an agenda, where it can still grow without the risk.”

And Angela Goodman, a business strategist and leadership coach, explained that she had actually encountered this issue from the other side of the table as a business owner when she invited an employee to dinner to get to know her.