Gerald was a 60-year-old man working as a salesperson in a hardware store with several younger co-workers, a few of whom consistently treated him with disrespect, making nasty comments about his being old, slow and "computer illiterate" because he was not very good with the online inventory system. At first, Gerald ignored the comments, but he rapidly grew tired of them. He politely, and privately, spoke to the most vocal of the younger employees, asking him to stop the needling, but the younger man told Gerald that he was being too sensitive and the bullying grew worse. Gerald eventually approached the store owner about the situation. The owner likes Gerald, but was unwilling to get involved with what he called "employee issues." Gerald noted that since many of the insults reference Gerald's age, they could constitute illegal workplace harassment. The store owner became defensive and continued to do nothing about the situation. Eventually, the bullying began to affect Gerald's health. He quit his job and then applied for unemployment benefits, arguing that his employer's failure to address the age-based harassment created a hostile work environment. Gerald not only won unemployment benefits but is now involved in a lawsuit against his former employer. 2. Conflict situations should be either resolved or used beneficially. Discuss the FIVE (5) negative effects of conflicts as in the case study above and explain briefly?
CASE STUDY
“Gerald was a 60-year-old man working as a salesperson in a hardware store with several younger co-workers, a few of whom consistently treated him with disrespect, making nasty comments about his being old, slow and "computer illiterate" because he was not very good with the online inventory system. At first, Gerald ignored the comments, but he rapidly grew tired of them. He politely, and privately, spoke to the most vocal of the younger employees, asking him to stop the needling, but the younger man told Gerald that he was being too sensitive and the bullying grew worse.
Gerald eventually approached the store owner about the situation. The owner likes Gerald, but was unwilling to get involved with what he called "employee issues." Gerald noted that since many of the insults reference Gerald's age, they could constitute illegal workplace harassment. The store owner became defensive and continued to do nothing about the situation.
Eventually, the bullying began to affect Gerald's health. He quit his job and then applied for
2. Conflict situations should be either resolved or used beneficially. Discuss the FIVE (5) negative effects of conflicts as in the case study above and explain briefly?
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