SET 1
Scenario 1: You approach a supervisor for help with a problem you are having with a female co-worker. Your supervisor responds, “Don’t worry about it. She probably just gets upset when it’s her time of month.”
Scenario 2: A new colleage is sharing their story at a PEA community event about why they came to live in Canada. She talks about the anti-homosexuality legislation in her country. Someone interrupts and says, “You don’t look gay.”
Scenario 3: During a team meeting you overhear a colleague talking about the anti-racism effort at your organization, referring to it as part of “the socialist agenda.” During the Q&A, the same colleague asks, “So, we’re all about diversity now and I feel like there is a contradiction. Let’s be honest, we don’t really want all kinds of diversity, right? I mean, I feel like we’re not allowed to have a diversity of opinions on diversity?”
Scenario 4: Your manager wants to address diversity in the workplace. In meetings when the topic emerges, they look at your colleague, the only individual who identifies as an Indigenous person on your team. You notice that your colleague shifts uncomfortably and averts their gaze when the topic comes up.
Scenario 5: A manager says a homophobic/transphobic slur during a meeting. A colleague speaks up about it but the manager brushes it off and says “It was just a joke. Besides, I’m not hurting anyone since nobody from the LGBTQ+ community is here anyway.”
Set 2
Scenario 1: During an online meeting between you, your manager, and two other colleagues, there are questions around your organization's plans to provide specific support to Black and Indigenous communities. One of your colleagues seems exasperated and says, “I still really feel like this is favouritism. The white faculty/staff are being hit by COVID just as bad. Maybe this is unpopular right now, but I’m of the school that all lives matter.” One of your colleagues who is a member of one of those communities falls silent.
For more information on why “All Lives Matter” is problematic, this article explains it well.
Scenario 2: A meeting is winding up and as people are leaving, you overhear a conversation between two colleagues. Colleague A makes a discriminatory comment. Colleague B, who is a person of colour, gives Colleague A feedback on their comment, but A tells B that they are being overly sensitive and “Everything is political these days!” This is not the first time that Colleague A has received feedback on their offensive comment.
Scenario 3: With all of the changes and messaging around the hybrid model of returning to work, your manager is frustrated. She complains out loud to her team that everything is so confusing that she’s “getting schizophrenic.”
Scenario 4: A colleague comes out as trans and your manager says in a surprised tone that they “didn’t look trans.” Another one of your colleagues, who is a woman of colour, pulls your manager aside to give them some feedback. You overhear your manager say, “You don’t need to get so mad. Let’s be respectful when we have these conversations.” Your colleague goes back to their desk looking visibly frustrated.
Scenario 5: During a staff meeting, one of your colleagues (Colleague A), who uses they/them pronouns, shares a suggestion. Another colleague (Colleague B) at the table responds to Colleague A’s idea with, “I have to agree with him. That’s a great idea.” You’re aware that Colleague B has insisted on using Colleague A’s old pronouns ever since Colleague A came out as non-binary.