Read the scenario below and answer the questions that follow:

It's a man's world ... Since childhood, Thandi has been good at repairing all kinds of things in and around the house, and was always willing to help people in the community. She realised that she could convert this passion into a career. After she qualified, she was appointed at a plumbing company. She was not bound to an office and had the opportunity to interact with a wide range of people. Unfortunately, she had to endure crude comments from her mostly male colleagues and sometimes even from customers.

She tried not to react to these comments, but it was difficult. Things became even worse when a new supervisor was appointed. He immediately made it clear that he disapproved of 'a woman taking a man's job'. He often said she had only been employed to meet the company's employment equity targets.

He also made suggestive comments whenever the opportunity arose. She tried to ignore these comments, as she did not want to jeopardise her job. But she started to doubt her abilities and isolated herself more and more.

One day she overheard a conversation between her supervisor and a customer. The customer was surprised that the plumber attending to his problem was a woman. The supervisor did not know she was nearby and said:" It is a pity that such a voluptuous young thing tries so hard to prove herself in a man's world. She could have been a real asset to a husband, but I don't know who would be brave enough to take her on. Maybe I should show her a few things ..." The customer laughed and they proceeded to discuss her attributes, using vulgar language.

Thandi was extremely upset but knew confrontation would be useless. She made an appointment with the HR Manager for the very next morning. The HR Manager was one of the few women in the company, and Thandi hoped that she would understand her problem. Thandi was, however, shocked by the HR Manager's reaction.

She told Thandi to "grow up", as this was simply how women are treated in the workplace. Thandi suggested diversity training to encourage awareness of differences and more acceptable behaviour.

The HR Manager laughed it off and said that training in their company only involved technical refresher and customer service courses. She commented that training should be aimed at increasing the bottom line, and that money should not be wasted on employees who were not mature enough to deal with their differences.

Question

1.1 Workplace mistreatment and discrimination are phenomena that occur when a person feels that they are being unfairly treated. Identify the name of the treatment to which Thembi was exposed. Motivate your answer. (Your answer must clearly distinguish each phenomenon, as referred to in the scenario above.) (7 Marks)