Natasha is standing at the front of a table conducting a meeting with a group of employees. Natasha is having a discussion with Cody. Natasha is looking out of a large office window, thinking about the incident.

Case Study Four

Calls It Like She Sees It

At work Natasha calls it like she sees it. She’s respectful, but when someone isn’t performing well she doesn’t hesitate to let them know what is and isn’t acceptable.

After this month’s staff meeting Natasha pulled Cody to the side to discuss a problem she was having with one of his direct reports. During the discussion Cody told Natasha to get over it and that she was acting like an angry young man.

Natasha believes the statement was made because she is lesbian and Cody didn’t like hearing the feedback about one of his direct reports. Frustrated by the comments, Natasha decided to cut the conversation short and politely leave.

More information about the terms used on this slide can be found in the glossary.

Is Cody's conduct acceptable?

The correct answer is NO

Cody’s conduct is not acceptable and his comment that Natasha was acting like an angry young man is based on a protected characteristic (sexual orientation). But this scenario doesn’t end here. Let’s take a look at what happens next.