The Quick Stop Motel was a small property with a limited staff. It was the first hotel built in the.

Description

The Quick Stop Motel was a small property with a limited staff. It was the first hotel built in the city when the expressway came through $40$ years earlier.

Juanita looked up and smiled as a guest came toward her cart. "Good afternoon, Mr$.$ Tills."

"I bet you think it's a good afternoon," Mr$.$ Tills snarled at her. "Best afternoon of your life, eh$?"$

"Sir?" Juanita queried, looking bewildered.

$"$Oh$,$ the very picture of innocence!" he said sarcastically. "I suppose you don't know anything about my wife's earrings."

Juanita's eyes got wide and she shook her head slowly. "Sir, I don't know what you're talking about."

"The earrings you stole from my wife. She left them in the room after she took them off last night, and this afternoon they were gone$$after you'd cleaned the room. If you fork them over right now, maybe I won't tell your supervisor."

Juanita continued to shake her head, "Sir, I do not steal things! I am not a thief!"

"Then would you care to tell me where they are? Surely you're not so obtuse that you would vacuum up a pair of $$1,000$ diamond earrings!"

"Sir, no$,$ I $..."$

"Forget it$,"$ Mr$.$ Tills snapped at her. "I'll just go to the front desk, and you can be sure if I don't get them back, I'll have the $$1,000$ out of your paycheck!"

Mr$.$ Tills turned and stomped off to the front desk, leaving a distraught Juanita, who immediately abandoned her cart and headed straight for the housekeeping offices. She entered the stock room where Cindy, the executive housekeeper, was going over inventory with the assistant executive housekeeper, Chandis.

"Miss Volk, a guest just accused me of being a thief," Juanita burst out.

Cindy set her clipboard down. Juanita seemed on the verge of either crying or screaming. Cindy wished once again that the hotel had security officers who could handle this situation. She motioned to Chandis to follow her and gently said, "Juanita, let's go sit in my office and you can tell me what happened."

The three quickly retreated to the executive housekeeper's office where Cindy sat down beside Juanita, and Chandis moved to the chair behind Cindy's desk.

$"$OK$,$ Juanita, you seem very upset. What happened?" Cindy asked.

$"$Mr$.$ Tills said I stole his wife's earrings and he was going to have $$1,000$ held out of my paycheck. How am I supposed to feed my family if I have to pay him $$1,000?$ It'll take months to pay him back! And it's not fair! I didn't take anything; you know I wouldn't take anything, Miss Volk. I've worked for this hotel for $20$ years and no one has ever called me a thief! I don't have to put up with this, Miss Volk. I'll quit before I will put up with this!"

Cindy picked up a notepad, "I understand you're angry, Juanita. I would be upset too if someone accused me of theft. So$,$ Mr$.$ Tills claims his wife's $$1,000$ earrings are missing?"

Juanita nodded, $"$Of course I$\text{'}$m angry$$everyone$\text{'}$s going to hear about this and say that I$\text{'}$m a thief."

"Well, I$\text{'}$m not going to call you a thief, Juanita. Take a deep breath, and let me ask you some questions so we can try to sort this out. Did you clean the Tillses' room this morning?"

"Yes, but I didn't even see any earrings!"

$"$So$,$ the earrings weren't there when you cleaned the room?"

"How should I know? I didn't go through her purse or their suitcases."

"What time did you clean the room?"

$"$It was around $9$:$30$ a$.$m$.$ I saw the Tillses leave for breakfast and wanted to get their room clean for them before they returned."

"Did you notice any unusual activity around the guestroom? Did anyone else enter the room or try the door?"

$"$I$\text{'}$m not sure," Juanita answered. "But Evans was working the rooms across the hall; he might have seen something. I only cleaned the poolside rooms on that floor. There was a basketball team checking into rooms down the hall."

$"$OK$.$ When you cleaned the room, did you move their suitcases or open up the drawers?"

"Let me try to remember," Juanita said, closing her eyes. $"$It was my second room. They had a makeup bag on the bed that I moved to the nightstand so I could make the bed." Juanita opened her eyes again, "I didn't open the drawers$$I never do in stayover rooms. You told us not to$."$

Just as Cindy was about to ask another question, the phone rang. Chandis picked it up quickly to minimize the interruption, but then handed the phone to Cindy. "Cindy, it's Mark at the front desk. He says he needs to talk to you immediately."

"Excuse me for a moment, Juanita. I'll make this short," Cindy apologized, taking the phone from Chandis. "Good morning, Mark, what can I do for you?"

"Cindy, I have a hotel guest, Mr$.$ Tills, here. He tells me that one of your room attendants stole his wife's earrings."

Cindy sighed and looked over at Juanita, whose distress was slowly turning to indignation. $"$I$\text{'}$m aware of the situation, Mark. What did the guest tell you?"

$"$Mr$.$ Tills's wife took her earrings off last night and placed them in the unused ashtray inside the dresser drawer. She went to put them on this afternoon and they were gone. Mr$.$ Tills is convinced that the room attendant took them. Would you like the description he gave me of the room attendant?"

"That won't be necessary, Mark. I have Juanita here in my office. Mr$.$ Tills spoke with her this morning," Cindy said, wishing to head off any disparaging description that the angry guest may have given. Juanita began muttering about the guest's method of "speaking with her" as Cindy continued her conversation with the front desk agent. "Mark, is Mr$.$ Tills still standing there?"

"Yes, he is$,"$ Mark replied.

$"$OK$.$ I'll be right out. Ask him to sit down in one of the offices so I can talk to him away from the lobby."

"I'll tell him, Cindy. Thanks," Mark said and promptly hung up$.$

"Juanita, take a few moments to calm down if you need to$,$ then go complete the rooms. I$\text{'}$m going to talk to Mr$.$ Tills, and I'll let you know by the end of the day what has happened."

QUESTIONS

Did Cindy and Mark display a professional behavior in this situation? explain and provide reasons and examples for your answer.

Do you think Juanita did the right thing by reporting the matter? explain and give reasons for your answer.

In detail, explain what steps should Mark take to inform his team members about the situation?

Estimated Deadline $($in hours$)$

$2$