I decided to report it on Monday, because she yelled her “Nigga-rigged”
at work, and even though I didn't think that anyone was around or heard what she said, it was better to report it. I think that part of the reason why I had trouble figuring out what I should do, is how our department was structured. In my position, I reported directly to the director, Keith, and my cube mate reported to one of the other managers in Keith’s department. Therefore, I thought that I had an unfair advantage. Also, I was not surprised about what Annabel said, I had no doubts that she had used the N-word before and would probably use it again. We had been friends; however, some of her beliefs and attitudes had started to become apparent. But, I thought that since she had immediately apologized, she should not lose her job over it. So, I decided to report her to the Team Lead and her Manager.
First, I went to the
Team Lead, Dave. I told him what
happened. Dave immediately went to the
manager Rich and informed him of the situation.
Rich decided that he wanted to meet with me. During our meeting, I repeated the story
again, and I stated that although it was inappropriate, she did immediately
apologize for her mistake. Rich started telling me about how he had been
in different work environments all over the country and when he worked in
Mississippi, Blacks would refer to each other as Niggas all of the time in
front of him, and didn't think anything about it, even though he was white man
from the Massachusetts. I listened to
him, but I did not have any idea of what this had to do with me and the issue
that was occurring right now. I was not from Mississippi. We were
not in Mississippi. We were on a Federal Government contract in Maryland, and I never used the N-word at work or
in front of Annabel. Now the Federal Government,
depending on the agency is very strict about the use of inappropriate language. In the agency that we worked in, if someone
said something inappropriate to you on a government phone line, it was grounds
for punishment or termination, even if the other person did not work for the
government. Therefore, why would I or
really anyone risk saying anything inappropriate at work. Eventually, Rich asked me was I going to
report it to Keith. I told him no, I
thought that it was better if it just stayed at this level. Rich agreed.
Afterwards, I went back to my desk.
Later that afternoon, Dave stopped by my desk. He spoke to me very quietly. He told me that he needed to speak with me,
but it needed to be off this floor where no one would see us. So, we met downstairs on the first floor in
a private cube. Dave said, “Rich told
Keith what Annabel did at the manager’s meeting. “What?? Why?? We agreed that I would not
tell Keith, and that the issue would be handled by him.” I responded.
Dave’s response was…
Well, I don’t know, but we have a
problem. Keith said that the policy is
clear. Annabel may not be terminated
today, but eventually she will be terminated.
Rich stated that she should not be terminated since she apologized to
you. So, to be fair, Dave decided that
he will not fire her, if you, come to him, tell him what happened and ask him
not to fire her. However, you have to do
it on your own, you cannot know about the conversation that happened in the
managers meeting. And of course the
conversation that we are having now, never happened.
I just kind of stared into space for a minute, and then I
said…. “So let me get this straight. I
am supposed to go to Keith, tell him what happened, wait until he say that she
is being terminated, and beg for her job, because your boss went to him and
reported on his own employee?” “Yes,” he
said. “Also, to make it more authentic,
we are going to have you meet again with Annabel, and she is going to
officially apologize to you again. We
are doing this, because we do not think that Keith’s rules are fair.”
This had to be one of the craziest situations that I had
been in, the situation was already complicated, but I never thought that it
would become this convoluted and stupid.
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