Hiv/Aids in the Workplace
CASE PROGRAM
2004-57.1
HIV/AIDS in the Barbados workplace – one company’s dilemma
On 20 June 2004, George Hope, the General Manager of Caron Foods, a major manufacturing company in Barbados, faced the challenge of having to deal with the death of one of his employees - Maxine Cave - who had died of AIDS. Maxine was a production worker in the food plant and had been with the company for five years. She was a dedicated employee who had a positive work attitude. She rarely missed a day from work, was always on time, and got along well with her fellow employees. In fact, it was rumoured that she had had intimate relationships with at least seven men in the Production Department. George Hope was informed about the cause of death by a fellow employee in the Production Department who lived in Maxine’s neighbourhood. He, along with other staff, had heard rumours and had noticed that she had become quite thin. Even though she had been absent from work for long periods during the past year, they had never imagined the seriousness of the illness – which she had chosen not to disclose to anyone in the organisation. Rather than face the stigma and discrimination associated with this illness, she had chosen to resign. In the absence of any policy or procedure, George Hope now had to determine how he was going to deal with the rumours and innuendo surrounding the AIDS death of one of his employees, as well as the impact that this news could have on his other employees and on the sustainability of his organisation. “My management training never prepared me for dealing with fear and death in the organisation,” he mused. HIV/AIDS in Barbados Barbados is the most easterly in the chain of islands in the Caribbean, and is washed by the Atlantic Ocean on its eastern side and by the Caribbean Sea on the west. The island depends
This case was written by Sue Lynch with supervision from Dr Richard Norman from Victoria University of Wellington at the Caribbean Case Course in
2004-57.1
HIV/AIDS in the Barbados workplace – one company’s dilemma
On 20 June 2004, George Hope, the General Manager of Caron Foods, a major manufacturing company in Barbados, faced the challenge of having to deal with the death of one of his employees - Maxine Cave - who had died of AIDS. Maxine was a production worker in the food plant and had been with the company for five years. She was a dedicated employee who had a positive work attitude. She rarely missed a day from work, was always on time, and got along well with her fellow employees. In fact, it was rumoured that she had had intimate relationships with at least seven men in the Production Department. George Hope was informed about the cause of death by a fellow employee in the Production Department who lived in Maxine’s neighbourhood. He, along with other staff, had heard rumours and had noticed that she had become quite thin. Even though she had been absent from work for long periods during the past year, they had never imagined the seriousness of the illness – which she had chosen not to disclose to anyone in the organisation. Rather than face the stigma and discrimination associated with this illness, she had chosen to resign. In the absence of any policy or procedure, George Hope now had to determine how he was going to deal with the rumours and innuendo surrounding the AIDS death of one of his employees, as well as the impact that this news could have on his other employees and on the sustainability of his organisation. “My management training never prepared me for dealing with fear and death in the organisation,” he mused. HIV/AIDS in Barbados Barbados is the most easterly in the chain of islands in the Caribbean, and is washed by the Atlantic Ocean on its eastern side and by the Caribbean Sea on the west. The island depends
This case was written by Sue Lynch with supervision from Dr Richard Norman from Victoria University of Wellington at the Caribbean Case Course in