“You are so out of here!” Cindy could hardly believe the words she heard coming from the mouth of Sonja, the new corporate assistant property manager for the Desirable Apartment Company. After all, Sonja had barely been working as long as Cindy, and Cliff, the corporate property manager himself, was sitting right next to Sonja hardly saying a word. Cindy, as the wife of one of the members of the executive committee (Larry), knew coming into the organization that she could not expect to be treated any differently than anyone else, but this was way out of hand.

As soon as Cindy left the property, Sonja and Cliff quickly reported the situation to Lamarr, the vice president of corporate assets, and their immediate supervisor. After hearing the story, Lamarr walked into the office of the vice-president of Human Resource Development, Heather, and said, “You are not going to believe what just happened out at the Builtwell property with Larry’s wife Cindy.” He went on to tell her the entire story as he understood it.

Heather was a thoughtful seasoned veteran of human resources and knew the company inside and out. She knew this incident had the potential to shake the company to its core because of the close relationship of all the members of the executive committee. This company was built on a strong foundation of family values, and she could see the potential disruption from firing the wife of an executive. She immediately contacted Cindy to hear her side of the story and give her the opportunity to describe what happened that day.

Cliff spent the evening trying to figure out what had gone wrong during the meeting with Cindy. What had started out to be a simple meeting to discuss sales expectations for Cindy in her role as leasing agent had quickly gone from bad to worse as Sonja attempted to assert herself during the meeting. Sonja had recently been hired into her new position and was eager to have an impact on the company … “boy was she ever,” he thought with remorse. He worked late into the evening crafting an explanatory e-mail to Heather, trying to explain why company protocol had not been followed during the dismissal and why he, as Sonja’s supervisor, had not intervened.

After reading Cliff’s e-mail late that night, Heather sent a response to Lamarr that was apparently never received. Early the next morning she sent a follow-up e-mail, saying, “It does not appear that you received my e-mail from this morning, so this is my 2nd attempt, in response to Cliff’s e-mail last night, to offer my viewpoint on the situation.”

Heather went on to state, “I also spent last evening trying to digest the current events. I hope that Sonja can eventually succeed in exhibiting leadership that represents the Desirable Apartment culture. I listened to both points of view of what happened. I heard examples of how Cindy was poorly treated by the Builtwell staff, and I listened to management’s description of Cindy’s behavior. I think everyone is viewing the situation through their particular filter, and it is challenging to piece it together. I do not think that the Builtwell on-site manager, Jill, is totally innocent in this situation, either.”

“I would like to believe it was not Sonja’s intention to have Cindy terminated. However, Sonja and Jill had a conversation before the meeting, and Jill asked if she should sit in. I believe this set the tone for the later meeting with Cindy. I am also left wondering about Jill’s reply to the Builtwell property maintenance manager when he asked where Cindy was that day. Jill replied, ‘Cindy is no longer with the company.’ Jill had the perception Cindy was terminated … and I have to wonder, why?”

Talking with Lamarr in his office later the next day, trying to wrap up the situation, Heather told him she had been doing damage control, “I spoke to Larry, and although still upset, he is focused and moving forward.” As Heather was leaving, she looked Lamarr in the eye and said, “In the end, I am left with what must have been the feeling of the Butler team after the final game of the 2011 NCAA game, ‘What the heck just happened?’”

Responding to the Case

Outline the specific steps Cliff should have taken with Sonja prior to their meeting with Cindy to ensure the meeting went smoothly with no surprises.

As a supervisor, what should Cliff have done when it became apparent Sonja was overstepping her authority during the meeting with Cindy?

What steps do you believe Heather should take with Sonja? With Cliff? With Cindy?

Give Answers to 3-17, 3-18, 3-19 with a minimum of 10 sentences.