WEBVTT 00:00:12.113 --> 00:00:16.285 I can't work with someone like that. Hey, slow down. What are you talking about? 00:00:16.310 --> 00:00:18.274 I'm her witness. Tina's right. 00:00:18.299 --> 00:00:22.145 Rose, that's a good name for her. The color matches her neck! 00:00:22.170 --> 00:00:24.414 I still don't know what you're talking about. 00:00:24.439 --> 00:00:27.190 We're talking about this morning. We were having a caseload meeting. 00:00:27.215 --> 00:00:29.910 OK, is that it? This. 00:00:29.935 --> 00:00:30.678 What's "this?" 00:00:30.679 --> 00:00:33.670 HR sent it up. They want some information on Marco. 00:00:33.724 --> 00:00:36.578 Marco? You mean the black kid from the mail room? 00:00:37.348 --> 00:00:41.129 Marco had filed a Workers Comp claim. HR was asking for documentation 00:00:41.154 --> 00:00:43.795 on any interaction our department had had with him. 00:00:43.820 --> 00:00:48.089 You know, to cover all the bases — just looking for placement, I guess. 00:00:48.609 --> 00:00:49.648 That's when she said it. 00:00:49.673 --> 00:00:53.461 Look, just tell them he, ah, delivered the mail here once a day. 00:00:53.486 --> 00:00:56.876 The last thing we want to do is get stuck with that tar baby. 00:01:00.863 --> 00:01:01.844 Tar baby? 00:01:01.869 --> 00:01:05.875 If that's not a walking zero tolerance policy violation, I don't know what is. 00:01:05.900 --> 00:01:09.603 Yeah. Finally, she showed her true colors. 00:01:19.879 --> 00:01:25.236 Zero-tolerance means when we run into words, phrases or behaviors that cross the line, 00:01:25.261 --> 00:01:29.116 we need to take immediate action to eliminate them or correct them - 00:01:29.195 --> 00:01:32.830 and make sure they don't happen again. They can be spoken comments, 00:01:32.855 --> 00:01:35.830 written in an e-mail, or even worn on a tee shirt. 00:01:36.076 --> 00:01:40.225 At the same time, zero tolerance involves more than a knee- jerk reaction 00:01:40.250 --> 00:01:42.768 or a one-size-fits all response. 00:01:42.920 --> 00:01:46.594 We need to take the time to make sure we have the whole story. 00:01:47.682 --> 00:01:51.727 Hey, thanks for taking time out of your schedule to see me. I know you're super busy. 00:01:51.958 --> 00:01:55.004 Glad to do it. Got your message that we needed to meet. 00:01:55.298 --> 00:01:58.502 We've got a little bit of a problem. And I need your help on this. 00:01:58.527 --> 00:02:01.806 I need to talk to you about a complaint I received this morning. 00:02:01.831 --> 00:02:02.904 Oh? 00:02:02.929 --> 00:02:05.785 A couple of your employees are upset because they believe 00:02:05.810 --> 00:02:09.071 that they heard you call another employee a "tar baby." 00:02:09.510 --> 00:02:12.589 I've have to admit, at first I was pretty angry... 00:02:12.781 --> 00:02:16.088 If somebody had a problem, they needed to talk to me about it first 00:02:16.113 --> 00:02:22.054 before going upstairs. Especially, when, as far as I was concerned, this was a non-issue. 00:02:22.079 --> 00:02:27.581 Yeah, I think I used the term tar baby, but I didn't call anyone a tar baby. 00:02:27.650 --> 00:02:31.499 I was referring to the sticky situation, you know, not the person. 00:02:31.672 --> 00:02:34.694 You know, to "get stuck with that tar baby." It's a figure of speech. 00:02:34.719 --> 00:02:37.162 David and Tina were pretty upset. 00:02:39.495 --> 00:02:42.007 You don't think they should be. No. 00:02:42.234 --> 00:02:45.366 I mean, one, it has nothing to do with them. 00:02:45.391 --> 00:02:51.286 Two, as I said, it, it's a figure of speech. I mean, do you think it's offensive? 00:02:51.830 --> 00:02:55.269 It's didn't offend me, personally. But that wasn't the issue. 00:02:55.419 --> 00:02:59.291 There are words and phrases that seem okay to some people and not to others. 00:02:59.316 --> 00:03:04.374 And the fact that the term "tar baby" can be seen as offensive across racial lines... 00:03:04.399 --> 00:03:05.587 That was the issue. 00:03:05.612 --> 00:03:10.275 OK, let me make sure I understand this. You were not trying to offend anyone, right? 00:03:10.300 --> 00:03:12.420 And you weren't talking about Marco. 00:03:12.445 --> 00:03:16.848 You were talking about how to avoid a potential sticky Workers Comp situation. 00:03:16.849 --> 00:03:18.575 Am I right? Exactly. 00:03:19.136 --> 00:03:21.590 I mean, I can't believe that they went over my head. 00:03:21.615 --> 00:03:22.721 I mean, why did they come to you? 00:03:22.746 --> 00:03:25.483 Why didn't they just say something to me about it? 00:03:25.508 --> 00:03:28.698 I'm not sure. But I'm glad they brought it to me so that we can address it, 00:03:28.723 --> 00:03:32.700 because it's a serious situation. Maybe you're not aware of this... 00:03:32.725 --> 00:03:35.788 but tar baby is one of those language land mines that 00:03:35.813 --> 00:03:38.004 creates confusion and misunderstandings. 00:03:38.029 --> 00:03:39.990 It's an old expression. 00:03:40.069 --> 00:03:43.630 Most things like that are. But, it's more than just a figure of speech. 00:03:43.655 --> 00:03:45.356 It carries a lot of baggage. 00:03:45.381 --> 00:03:48.747 It has a history of being used in racist expressions towards black people. 00:03:48.779 --> 00:03:50.966 Alright. Alright. Fine. 00:03:51.439 --> 00:03:55.250 I suppose I need to apologize or something before this goes any further. 00:03:55.461 --> 00:04:00.778 That would be a good. But, how can we show them this was just a misunderstanding? 00:04:01.603 --> 00:04:05.248 I don't know. Good question. Let me think about it. 00:04:06.289 --> 00:04:10.661 Do you know that we have a responsibility to be role models for our employees? 00:04:10.686 --> 00:04:12.294 I mean, we need to show our 00:04:12.319 --> 00:04:15.789 employees how to handle these things in a respectful manner, right? 00:04:16.308 --> 00:04:17.669 Agreed. 00:04:17.707 --> 00:04:20.914 So, what do you think we should do about this? 00:04:21.175 --> 00:04:25.932 First, I want you to know that I didn't mean to offend anyone. 00:04:26.919 --> 00:04:30.799 And I'm very sorry that this had to happen this way and I want to see 00:04:30.824 --> 00:04:33.192 how we can get this resolved. 00:04:33.730 --> 00:04:34.798 Okay. 00:04:35.303 --> 00:04:40.575 I think what we need to do at this point, is get the four of us together 00:04:40.600 --> 00:04:46.202 so we can clear up the misunderstanding and start to rebuild some trust. 00:04:46.462 --> 00:04:50.193 I agree. Let's talk about the best way to do just that. 00:04:50.730 --> 00:04:56.979 Did I handle it right? I think so. I took the time to get the whole story, 00:04:57.161 --> 00:05:01.549 did a little coaching with Rose... And sat down and talked with the four of us. 00:05:01.763 --> 00:05:04.362 Rose explained that, though, it wasn't her intention, 00:05:04.387 --> 00:05:10.544 she used a poor choice of words. And Tina and David accepted that explanation. 00:05:10.736 --> 00:05:14.271 We all agreed that we learned a lot about different words 00:05:14.296 --> 00:05:16.906 and expressions and how they can differ in meaning; 00:05:16.931 --> 00:05:21.637 and we also talked about how to deal with those kinds of misunderstandings for the future. 00:05:21.914 --> 00:05:26.153 Did it heal the wound? Not entirely. That'll take time. 00:05:26.455 --> 00:05:30.960 But, I'll tell you what. I've got a better manager, and I kept two good employees. 00:05:31.008 --> 00:05:34.767 And with what could have happened here, that's a win in my book.