Answer the Discussion please, thank you.

er m- ad m, ed Ethnic Discrimination it- dy so of -as dly Culture Clash at the Cancer Center I'm not used to working with lazy Mexicans. You know how those people are; they're always thinking about siestas. So nothing gets done on time because it's maana, maana. -INDRIT KHALSA Lle er. usan Finn, associate director of Human Resources at the Eastern New Mexico Medical Center (ENMMC) in Roswell, was deeply perplexed Or ot ed S, staff members of the Radiation Oncology unit had come to Finn separately with complaints regarding alleged abusive behavior exhibited by a contract physician, Indrit Khalsa, directed toward Hispanic and female staff as well as patients. Specifically, a number of staff members presented Finn with the fol- lowing complaints, which they were reluctant to put in writing for fear of retaliation by ENMMC management, who they believed did not wish to jeop- ardize the revenues that Dr. Khalsa brought into the center: Pat Chavez, an experienced dosimetrist with twenty years' experience, complained that Khalsa frequently referred to Hispanics as "those people who are lazy and dirty." After one particularly derogatory remark about Juan Sanchez, Chavez confronted Khalsa and asked him not to make these remarks, but Khalsa simply ignored him. no Betty Cabeza de Baca, a licensed practical nurse, had been the brunt of numerous tirades and abusive remarks by Dr. Khalsa. On one occasion, when erupted: "You're so stupid. You can't even remember where you put the told a head nurse not to let Betty treat an affluent white patient "because she is not of her kind. Khalsa informed another patient who offered him a tamale, 79 patient; all you think about is taking siestas. On another occasion, Khalsa had PART II EMPLOYMENT RELATIONS 80 tjunk like that, but "You make that out of the insides of a pig, and I don't eat Khalsa informed Betty's daughter, Contessa, that she would never be tall: you can give it to her (Betty) if you like." But, the final straw occurred when "You're going to be a short little Mexican." . Anna Maria Murieta, a young tech assistant who helped the technicians prepare patients and their setups, was also upset with Dr. Khalsa's behavior, but she did not want to risk losing the only steady job she had held since graduating from high school. Sandra Newhouse, a Radiation Oncology nurse, stated that Dr. Khalsa has belittled staff in front of patients and was breaching patient confidentiality from one patient to another. Newhouse indicated that on one occasion, Dr. Khalsa had told a patient that another patient was also undergoing experi- mental high-dose chemotherapy treatment for was not good. but her prognosis w treatment for lymphoma, be t I Susan sympathetically listened when these employees had sought her out to complain about Dr. Khalsa's behavior toward them, as well as toward the poor, female, and Hispanic patients. The complaining employees were particularly incensed when Khalsa would not drape these women during examination. He also would sometimes pinch their nipples or pop them with his finger during examinations, but claimed this was a necessary part of the process. Despite Khalsa's objectionable behavior, Susan Finn had repeatedly been instructed by her boss Jeff McKeleher, the vice president for Human Resources, not to investigate these complaints unless they were put in writing. McKeleher explained that Finn should leave relations with the physicians up to him and just handle the staff side of things. Besides, McKeleher assured her, he would make certain that all the complaints she relayed to him were given to top man- agement at the center. same Over the next several months, Khalsa's behavior became even more abu- sive, and several staff members began to apply for positions outside of Radiol- ogy Oncology. Finn was dubious that her concerns regarding Khalsa's behavior ever left McKeleher's office. Finally, Finn confronted McKeleher and de- manded to know what he had done about the situation with Khalsa and if Finn's concerns even had been delivered to ENMMC management. McKeleher be- came very agitated and told Finn to mind staff affairs and let him handle physi- cians. After all, McKeleher warned, these physicians are not regular employees at ENMMC and serve on a contractual basis: "You know we really can't do anything about them and staff is expendable; so just don't rock the boat." Finally , Finn decided she could no longer ignore the problems and needed documentation to protect herself should there be litigation down the road. Thus, Finn prepared the following memo for Dr. Tristani, vice president of Medical Affairs: It has been brought to my attention by the staff of the Department of Radiation Oncology, that they are concerned about what they consider inappropriate behavior toward them by Dr. Khalsa. Their complaints echo CHAPTER 14 ETHNIC DISCRIMINATION 81 it 10 1: IS e s y . S marks, breach of patient confidentiality, and unprofessionalism. Discussion of direct verbal abuse, gender discrimination, racially inflammatory re- with employees indicates that this behavior is continuing to worsen as patient volumes increase. In the past months, both I and Pat Chavez have talked with Dr. Khalsa about anti-Hispanic comments made in the public areas of the department, but with no success. Nor have my mediation attempts yielded any positive changes in his behavior. The female staff members state that they are continually subjected to fits of anger and ver- bal reprimands by Dr. Khalsa in front of the patients and other staff, whereas male staff are not treated in a derogatory manner. I have discussed this with male employees and they are in complete agreement. Dr. Khalsa has also been seen to throw consent forms and charts at Betty Cabeza de Baca when he doesn't like the work she has done. On another occasion, his anger at Anna Maria Turieta was so great that she could no longer perform her job responsibilities and had to go home for the remainder of the day. As you are aware, there has been a significant amount of turnover in the Radiation Therapy Department. At the present time, I believe we have recruited a very good staff of therapists and nurses. They are working diligently to become a cohesive department that provides compassionate quality care for their patients. Because they are new to ENMMC, and they are from different backgrounds, this will take a little time. They are willing to work with Dr. Khalsa, but not under these circumstances. Please let me know as soon as possible how you intend to handle this matter. Thank you. The following morning, Susan Finn received a call from Dr. Tristani's secre- tary that she was expected to be in Tristani's office within the hour to meet with Dr. Khalsa; and the secretary confided, And he's not a very happy camper!" DISCUSSION 1. To whom, if anyone, should Finn have sent copies of her memo to Tristani? 2. You are Dr. Tristani, and Finn's memo comes as a complete sur- prise to you. How would you respond to Finn? Khalsa? 3. You are Susan Finn. What docu- mentation do you take with you to the appointment with Tristani? Who, if anyone, would you tele- phone before the meeting with Tristani? McKeleher