Gabrielle's Story

Gabrielle, who identifies as Black and works at a government job, has been having a hard time at work because her new manager frequently comments about her hairstyle or the colors of clothing she chooses to wear. Gabrielle’s hair and clothing do not violate any organizational policies. She has also noticed that coworkers who do not identify as Black frequently receive positive comments from the manager, even when they are wearing outfits or hairstyles that do not conform to the organization’s guidelines. One day, Gabrielle overhears her manager tell a co-worker that people “like her” make the manager uncomfortable. Gabrielle decides to learn more about her manager by looking on social media and finds a number of extremely offensive posts about a “Black co-worker.” One post accuses the “Black co-worker” of mishandling department funds. Gabrielle is the only Black person in their department. In another, the manager says she wishes she could “track down” family members of the “Black co-worker” and teach people “like that” a lesson. Gabrielle remembers her daughter telling her that a stranger approached and tried to talk to her on her walk home from school and becomes afraid that the manager might be planning to do something to harm her daughter. Gabrielle isn’t sure what she should do and is worried about losing her job or having her daughter get hurt if she says anything. She doesn’t think she wants to report anything to law enforcement or talk to a lawyer but she wants to know if there is any way to stop what is happening. She decides to call the state’s confidential Non-Emergency Bias Response Hotline to see what information they are able to offer.