Workplace Conduct: One Company’s No-Nonsense Approach to Hate-Related Behavior

Abstract

One morning a first-year student class was delayed when the instructor entered the classroom and discovered swastikas and race-related hate messages scrawled on some butcher paper that covered the class's easel. It had not been there before the end of the previous work day, and the room was generally open to use by various groups after hours. The messages were observed by some of the students and created a pall of unease and concern for the next several class sessions. How could such conduct occur at an open University that, on its face, celebrated diversity? What would happen to the people or person who left these messages? The instructor pondered further: what consequences might occur if this same conduct occurred in the work place?

Author

• Theokas, Richard P Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University