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Old Smoke Bus 309
Lynne Anderson Professor Richard Carroll Strayer University February 21, 2012

1. Explain how you would handle this situation if you were Charles Renfold. What is Darlene’s personality? Is she a valuable employee with a sunny disposition and the ability to get along with everyone, who happens to have an allergy to cigarette smoke or has other general respiratory problems? Or is she an employee who has a different problem every day, no matter what the circumstances? From the article, it would appear that she DECIDED she would not work in an area where she could smell cigarette smoke. She did not state, ‘I can’t breathe in the file room’ or tell her boss about her medical issues. She simply stated, ‘I am not going to work in there today.’ I would not try to placate her further. She has the option of asking the two smokers to use special ashtrays that absorb smoke, or only smoking in one part of the files room, or only smoking during certain times of the day. She could try to work this out with them, instead of making this her boss’s problem and being so confrontational with him. Chances are she does things that other people don’t like. I would remind Darlene that she is talking about what she wants, not what she is entitled to, under the law. Alice and Frank have already taken steps to minimize the impact of their smoking by refraining from smoking when she is in the files room, and by airing it out before she comes into the room. She is talking about something that makes her feel ‘slightly nauseated’ not completely unable to work. She needs to keep this in proportion. She also needs to be part of the solution, agreeing to work in the room for a length of time, or carrying the necessary files out to her desk, then replacing them and getting more files. SHE needs to do this. Her manager should not suggest these,

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