Thor Ling is a Scandinavian Chinese American working at Charlotte’s Web, a new Internet web design company that has been operating out of St. Louis, MO for 2 years. Thor is an expert in HTML design and has been with the company for 3 days. Until yesterday, all was well.

His manager, Ingrid O’Malley, is a Norwegian Irish American who was been with the company for 2 weeks. A substantial woman in more ways than one, she likes to throw her weight around both metaphorically and literally, emphasizing her seniority over those members who have not been with the company as long as she has. Charlotte’s Web has a fast turnover rate due to the high-pressure nature of the industry, and so Ingrid actually has been with the company for longer than anyone else, including the CEO, White Cloud von Wigstein.

White Cloud von Wigstein is a Sioux chief of German descent, a mysterious figure who spends most of his day in his office and rarely emerges to resolve disputes between Ingrid and her underlings. The faint smell of incense and the sound of Wagnerian operas occasionally drift in the direction of the other cubicles, giving the impression that he is not to be disturbed.

Thor was quite happy at his new job until yesterday, when, after her fifth tirade that morning at his inadequacies, failings, and neglect of personal hygiene, Ingrid knocked over his 4’ toothpick model of the Eiffel tower on her way out of his 5’ cubicle. He was not sure whether it was intentional, but he soon became irate when a co-worker suggested that it was meant to be a slur on his faint traces of French blood from his grandmother Antoinette.

Thor did not discuss the issue with Ingrid directly, but this morning, her screen saver had been changed to read “Some pig”. She claimed racial discrimination, sexism, and disturbance of the peace, and threatened to sue the entire office. Emotions have escalated to the point that Thor, Ingrid, and most of the office are now ready to quit or, even more drastic, enter the office of White Cloud Wigstein.

STUDY QUESTIONS:

1. Should the employees discuss the issue themselves, consult White Cloud, or quit?
2. Do you think that the racial differences in the office are the main contributing factors to the tension, or would you look elsewhere for the source? If so, where?
3. What constructive steps could be taken to ensure this does not happen again?

MY ANSWERS:

1. The employees should consult White Cloud. They seem to have an unspoken respect for his authority that they do not have for each other.
2. Actually, race is not the defining characteristic of human beings; the problem in this particular situation may in fact be something other than the racial differences of the people involved. The glaring personality failings of Ingrid and the subsequent immaturity of the screensaver culprit might be greater contributing factors to the difficulty then the varying genealogies.
3. If White Cloud is capable of a coherent discussion, he should try to convince all involved that they will not get anywhere if they do not try to get along. This is a rough translation of “maintain proper communication channels”.