Question

Case 1: Hanaa has been working at a large construction company for three years. Although an intern, Hanaa has earned the respect of her peers. Her supervisor (and project manager), along with her coworkers, constantly support her by teaching her new materials and encouraging her to tackle new tasks. For one specific project, her supervisor chose her to visit the jobsite for the construction of flood retaining walls. Hanaa is familiar with the protocol required by her company, and her boss trusts her to always wear protective equipment every time she goes into the field.

However, when she went to the job site for this project, she heard someone yell, “Be careful not to break a nail!” while she was walking down a particularly steep mud slope. She dismissed the comment at first, but throughout the remainder of the project, different construction workers would make arrogant remarks and gestures at her. They would call her ‘Princess’.

Hanaa feels she is being treated disrespectfully because of her gender, but never brings it up to her supervisor as the workers were subcontracted from various companies by the General Contractor. Hanaa doesn’t feel right getting other people in trouble for such little comments, and is worried long term about how her success might be affected if she makes a complaint.

Should Hanaa say something?

Answer 1

Hanaa does not need to place an official complaint at this point but she should discuss the matter with several of her colleagues, and supervisors. While the company cannot directly control the behavior of the subcontractors but they could take some actions to minimize them or stop such remarks at the workplace.

However, in order to do any such thing, Hanaa should first identify if these remarks are considered derogatory/discriminative as per the company policy and practices. Next, she should speak in an informal setting with her immediate supervisor and ask for his/her guidance on how to proceed. If she finds support from her colleagues and supervisors then she can move onwards to a formal corrective action.