How to respond when a coworker says something offensive

Date:
Author:
Kenji Yoshino and David Glasgow

First, when a colleague makes a biased remark, the situation usually feels tense and adversarial, which makes it more likely you’ll freeze up or bungle your reply. Second, as we’ve noted, sometimes an immediate response is necessary—you don’t want to let a harmful comment hang in the air. For these reasons, it’s useful to have a couple of prepared responses at the ready.