Katrina was well liked by most of the staff at Northwestern High School. Katrina was an athletic trainer who was contracted to the school by her employer, the Wellness Center. The center was a physician-owned rehabilitation and fitness center that had contracts to provide sports medicine services at seven local high schools. Katrina worked in the clinic in the morning and then went over to the school at around 2:00. Because she spent so much time at the school, most of the coaches had come to think of her as one of the regular employees of the school system. Everyone but Michael, that is. Michael had been the school's varsity football coach for the past 30 years. He had seven state championship trophies in his office. He was a legend.

The problems between Katrina and Michael had started almost as soon as Katrina had arrived two years earlier. Since the school had not employed an athletic trainer before, Michael had been used to handling all his players' medical concerns. When Katrina started providing Michael with daily written reports on the health and practice status of his players, Michael told her that he had been in the business long enough to know when a kid could play and when he couldn't. When Katrina suggested that Michael needn't tape certain kids in the locker room before practices and games anymore, he told her to start paying more attention to the volleyball and field hockey teams and less to his boys. In short, Katrina and Michael just didn't get along.

One Monday morning after Katrina and Michael had had another argument following a Friday night game, Randy called Katrina into his office. Randy was the director of athletic training outreach services at the Wellness Center. Randy explained that Michael had called one of the physician-owners of the Wellness Center and threatened to use his influence to see that the school pulled out of the contract unless a new athletic trainer were assigned to Northwestern High. Not only would Michael see to it that the school backed out of the contract, but he would also send all his players in need of orthopedic services to another group on the other side of town. Randy told Katrina that the doctor had defended her as a loyal and competent professional. After a long conversation, the physician had apparently succeeded in getting Michael to back down from his threat. Both the physician and Randy wanted Katrina to know, however, that this situation was becoming a problem that they didn't need. Randy told Katrina that he expected her to play it cool with Michal and do everything in her power to avoid further conflicts. If things didn't improve, they might have to reassign Katrina to another school next fall.

Katrina was upset and angry after the meeting with Randy. Although she was glad that the physician-owner had defended her, she felt that undue pressure was being put on her to resolve the conflict. She wasn't sure how she could do it in light of her feeling that Michael would never change. Except for the situation with Michael, she liked working at Northwestern High. She didn't want to leave, but she didn't want to violate her own principles or standards either.

Questions for Analysis

1. What role could Randy play in facilitating a resolution to this conflict? What alternatives are available to him? What actions would you take if you were in his position? Why?
2. What are the risks associated with leaving Katrina assigned to Northwestern High School? What are the benefits? For the Wellness Center? For Katrina? If you were in Randy's position, would you reassign Katrina? Why or why not?
3. What strategies, if any, would you employ in order to ease tensions if you were in Katrina's position? What are the risks and benefits of each of these strategies?
4. What allies could Katrina employ to support her position? Are they likely to be helpful in this case? Why or why not?
5. Assume that Katrina is reassigned to another school for the next fall and that you have been assigned to replace her at Northwestern High. What strategies would you employ in order to avoid the conflict that existed when she worked there?