Discrimination

[silverdaler]

If a colleague acted in a discriminatory way towards a member of the public or another colleague, would you intervene, or would you report it to their line manager ?

[4getmenot]

I'd mention it to them as a kind of warning, then if they did it again go to higher authority. Whats happened?

[shivvy]

I think in many circumstances it would depend entirely on what s/he had done. What I mean is ... the severity of my response would be guided by the seriousness of their actions.
That said, I can't think of many circumstances where someone would behave in a discriminatory manner and I would think that it was a minor issue.
In general, if I had any reason to think that s/he needed to be disciplined about something then I would pass it directly to their line manager.
Also, although it might seem like quite a minor thing to you, s/he might have been reprimanded about it before (and you might not be aware of it.) In that case it would be very important for the line manager to know about it because clearly the previous poor performance has not improved.

If you are concerned about involving yourself, sometimes organisations have whistleblowing policies to use in this type of circumstance which can protect your anonimity.

[silverdaler]

Thanks for replying.
Im helping someone prepare for an interview, so im trying to think of hypothetical situations he might get asked about.
If you can think of anything more suitable or probable, i would be grateful to know. Cheers.

[melons]

I would say something to the person who said it in the beginning. I would ask why they said it, and say it was a little embarrasing. If it happened again i would probably approach the person it was happening to and see if they were ok (maybe they took it as a joke) then if it happened a 3rd time i would speak to a line manager!

[Hapus]

By law you are bound to confront it at the very least as ALL organisations are legally obliged to tackle discrimination in the workplace. Failure to do so, and failure to make ALL employees aware of "diversity" can result in fines.

[tessie1bear]

I owuld intervene, but privately and point out to the discrimator that his/her behaviour was unacceptable. I would insist that the said person apologise and that, if no apology were forthcoming I would report him/her to their line manager