Discrimination in the Workplace

M5D2: Discrimination in the Workplace

In 2011, New York University (NYU) reached a $210,000 settlement in a case filed by a mailroom employee from Ghana alleging racial and national origin harassment. According to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) report, the mailroom supervisor in NYU’s library regularly addressed this employee with slurs such as “monkey” and “gorilla” and insults such as “go back to your cage” and “do you want a banana?” The supervisor also called the employee’s accented English “gibberish” and expressed hostility to African immigrants. Although the employee made several formal complaints, NYU took months to investigate and then took virtually no corrective action, even after being alerted that the supervisor had retaliated against the employee for filing complaints.

Although NYU is a private university, this lawsuit could have come out of any number of public institutions. Reflect on the ethical, legal, and leadership aspects involved in this case.

Respond to the following:

• Share your overall reaction to this case.
• From ethical and legal standpoints, how should University leadership have handled this situation?
• What does “effective leadership” require in dealing with this type of situation?