Sara is a woman, working in the financial industry for one of the major banks. Because of her cultural background and possibly religious beliefs she doesn't wear make-up on a regular basis, she wears relatively loose-fitting clothes and overall is very conservative/modest with her attire and appearance. She is also someone who doesnt like to draw a lot of attention to herself and is more comfortable not wearing loud clothing or styles.

She had been working with the bank for many years and has proven herself many times over and has been promoted to positions of more importance and responsibility. Currently, she is a supervisor and when she learned of a job opening for a management role at another branch she had applied for the promotion. She was invited for an interview.

After her interview she felt that she had done a pretty good job and was surprised to learn that she did not get the job. She reached out to her current manager at her current branch to ask for advice and maybe some guidance as to how/why she didnt get the job. The response she got from her manager who is also a woman is that she probably should just tie up her hair, put on some make-up and wear less baggy clothes as that image would fit better with the corporate culture and image that represented management at the bank.

Sara was confused and a bit shocked that her manager would say these things, but understood that the culture did encourage people to dress a certain way and did encourage women to wear make-up. She had a lot of respect for her manager until now, and really didnt feel comfortable going over her head to the District Manager (DM). Also, it doesnt help that the DM and your manager are friends and have a personal relationship outside of work also. They had been in the same sorority in university and also have children who are in the same school and activities together.

Sara was upset and unhappy that she didnt get the promotion and she also learned that many others at the branch were being given time off from work to prepare for their industry certification exams but she wasnt given any paid time off. It seemed that some people had time off and others didnt.

Sara didnt know what to do and came to you as a friend and coworker and you convinced her that she really should reach out to the District Manager.

What are the issues going on in this case study?

(Marks will be assigned based on how thorough your assessment of the case is and the thoughtfulness of the responses you craft. You are also required to respond to at least one other colleague's assessment of the situation and offer suggestions to them.)

What are some appropriate actions that should/ can be taken now?