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Case #1 – Overreacting or Inappropriate? Helena Nguyen, a communication specialist at StarrMfg, a midsize manufacturing company in the Midwest, has experienced a myriad of indignities as one of two professional workers of Vietnamese descent in the organization. Frequently confused with her coworker Amy Tran, who is considerably older and larger than Nguyen and in no way resembles her, Nguyen had grown weary of correcting people only to have the same people repeat the same “mistake” the next time she saw them. Tran, who has worked for StarrMfg for more than 10 years, thought Helena was overreacting and never bothered to correct people when they called her Helena instead of Amy. Nguyen was also bothered when coworkers continued to mispronounce her last name although it’s simple to pronounce and its pronunciation had been phonetically described in the newsletter announcing her hire four months prior. Multiple coworkers and some managers had also told her how articulate and what a good writer she is even though her university major in communication and journalism and city of birth (Houston, Texas) were also announced in the newsletter. More troubling, Nguyen was the recipient of unwanted sexual attention and innuendos from multiple male coworkers and a printing contractor who worked at the company that printed StarrMfg’s monthly newsletter and other materials. Two coworkers repeatedly asked her out, and another told her he found “Chinese women” like her extremely attractive. Nguyen began wearing a fake engagement ring at work to pretend she was no longer single, only to have that backfire as well. “Who’s the lucky guy?” was not an innocuous question but was accompanied with a leer. She was peppered with other discomfiting questions about her imaginary mate. “Do you prefer Chinese men?” “Is he why you didn’t want to go out with me?” Nguyen was fed up with the questions and innuendoes but didn’t want to make a formal complaint. She informally mentioned the repeated comments and innuendos to the HR business partner, Heather Patchenski, an older White woman whom she considered an at-work friend. Patchenski didn’t even raise an eyebrow about the repeated comments and instead told Nguyen she should be flattered. She also said the comments would probably die down since Nguyen had recently gotten engaged and she was “no longer available.” The printing contractor’s behavior was the most disturbing to Nguyen, who had to go to the printing company a few times per month to discuss and work on printed materials. The owner, Jack Machema, an almost elderly White man, repeatedly mentioned that his late wife was a Korean woman, and he made Nguyen feel very uncomfortable on each visit. Machema asked Nguyen if she needed help with becoming a citizen, which made her feel angry and also creeped out. Before her last scheduled visit to the printer, when Nguyen learned that the receptionist and other workers were off-site at training, she abruptly cancelled the meeting to avoid being alone with Machema at the printing office. After her informal, unsuccessful attempt to get help from HR about her coworkers’ inappropriate behavior, Nguyen didn’t know where to turn about Machema, since he didn’t even work for StarrMfg and had been its preferred printer for more years than she’d been alive.

1. What should Nguyen do about some of her coworkers’ inability to learn her name and others’ constant sexual innuendos?

2. What kind of documentation about the disturbing behavior of her coworkers and Machema should Nguyen try to gather?

3. If Nguyen complains, what should StarrMfg do about the employees’ and Jack Machema’s behaviors?