Business Sustainability & GVV: Workplace Discrimination Role-Play

This assignment presents a role-play scenario centered on workplace discrimination within the ANZ company. The scenario involves an employee, Ms. Oyo, filing a complaint against a top-ranking official, Mr. X, alleging racial discrimination and harassment. The CEO facilitates a meeting with the employee, the accused official, and the company lawyer to address the issue and apply the Giving Voice to Values (GVV) framework. The CEO aims to resolve the issue outside of court, emphasizing the company's commitment to diversity and equal opportunity. The role-play explores perspectives from all stakeholders, including the employee's experience of discrimination, the official's defense, and the lawyer's arguments. The CEO attempts to understand the situation, address the employee's concerns, and potentially implement policy changes to prevent future incidents, highlighting the importance of addressing issues and fostering a culture of inclusivity. The assignment also touches upon the importance of corporate social responsibility and sustainability reporting.

Role-play on workplace
discrimination

Background - ANZ is being faced with the problems of
workplace discrimination as a compliant has been filed by
the employee, the accused defends himself by saying that
the employee was overreacting about the incident. The
company lawyer tries to defend the top-ranking individual
and the managing director is going to listen to the
arguments of both the sides in order to support the GVV
framework. The company CEO is trying to solve the issues
outside the court.
The main characters are- The CEO of the company, the
employee Ms. Oyo, the company lawyer and the top-
ranking official or the accused.

CEO - Good morning everyone
Lawyer, employee and official (together) - good morning
CEO- I hope we all are well aware of the main purpose of
today’s meeting.
Lawyer, employee and official- yes sir.
CEO- our company has been known for its diverse culture
and it has provided a competitive advantage to the company.
Ms. Oyo can you tell me what made you feel that you are
being discriminated or what are the problems that you are
facing which made you file a suit against the official Mr. X?

Employee- Sir I joined your company because of
its culture of treating people equally and I had
never thought I will be facing such issues. Since
the time I joined this organizations a sales manger
Mr. X had been passing many comments that was
intimidating and racially discriminated against
me by comparing my skills with that of a monkey.
CEO- Did you approach anyone to inform the
same?

Employee- Yes sir I had complained regarding the
same to the management and that is the main reason
I was terminated from my job because I raised my
voice and stood up against discrimination.
CEO- that is our mistake and I will talk about the
same to other directors of the company that why such
an issue was not looked into.
Mr. X do you want to say anything in your defense.
Mr. X.- sir my lawyer looked into the matter and he
has something to say.
CEO- OK then what all facts do you want to share?

Lawyer- sir in one of the sessions that I have had with
Ms. Oyo, I found out that she has a habit of exaggerating
her problems because when I asked her about an incident
from her college she overreacted. Instead of directly
taking about the facts of the incident, she gave me
answers such as the trauma and the treatment that she
went through and not even once she discussed about the
incidents. Therefore it is clear that she has a habit of
exaggerating about her issues and problems.
CEO- what made you think that she is exaggerating?
Lawyer- I investigated about the matter and found out
that she took a casual incident wrongly and overreacted
about the same.

CEO- ok so the female employees of the organization feel
this way? I need to talk to the HR manger to change the
polies such that whenever such acts happens the victims can
talk to them and inform about the same. Mr. X do you want
to say anything?
Mr. X- I did not make those comments intentionally and I
did not try to harass Ms. Oyo she took my casual remark
and actions too seriously.
CEO- Do you want to say something Ms. Oyo?

Ms. Oyo- sir every time I raised my voice I was not heard and
so finally I decided to write an open letter to you all because I
do not think my problems were being communicated to you.
This is the main reason why all the minority groups and
women in particular do not raise their voices because they are
not heard and there is lacking of equal opportunities in the
organizations.
CEO- is there anything you would like to recommend such
that all the women who cannot raise their voice can be
encourages to do so?
Ms. Oyo- yes sir, I will sit with the board such that we can
discuss on what all steps can be taken by the company to
improve equal opportunities to employees of the organization
irrespective of color and gender and any other
discrimination.