Suresh Kanta has a real problem and wasn't sure how to handle it. Suresh had been production manager for Jansontech for almost fifteen years. An early incident in life when he had gone to prison had made him realize the importance of honesty and hard work. Jansontech had given him a chance despite his prison record, and Suresh had made the best of it and earned the respect of other managers in the company.

A few months ago, Suresh decided to give Jessie Mathew a similar chance. Jessie had been just released from prison after serving a brief sentence for theft and was in need of employment - and Suresh understood how he felt. He appointed Jessie as a secretary in the accounts department. Things had gone well for Jessie at first. She was well liked by her colleagues. A month ago Suresh had been bothered a little, as one of Jessie's colleagues reported a wallet missing. Suresh had questioned Jessie about it and she had denied any wrongdoing - fortunately, the colleague's wallet had been found later.

Recently, one of the HR department clerks had discovered Jessie's prison record and had mentioned this to several other employees, about how Suresh had been so nice in giving Jessie another chance. Two days later, someone in accounting discovered some money missing from the cash box. An employee from an adjoining department mentioned that she had seen Jessie around the cashier's office where the cash box was kept during working hours.

Most people assumed that Jessie was the thief. Even the worker whose wallet had been misplaced suggested that maybe Jessie had indeed stolen it but had returned it when questioned. Many employees had approached Suresh and requested that Jessie be fired and handed over to the police. Meanwhile, when Suresh had discussed the problem with Jessie, Jessie had been defensive and repeatedly denied stealing the money. The evidence, of course, was purely circumstantial, yet everyone else seemed to see things quite clearly. Suresh feared that if he did not fire Jessie, he would lose everyone's trust and that some people might even begin to question his own motives.

1. Explain the events in this case in terms of perception and attitudes. Does personality play a role 4 2. What should Suresh do? Should he fire Jessie or give her another chance? 4

3. Does this relate to the Ladder of Perception in any way? How? 2