Scenario
Your Business and La Polpetta
You are the Human Resources Manager at Johnson & Baxter, a small law firm. You work on the second floor of a building in a small shopping plaza downtown. The first floor of your building is occupied by a busy Italian restaurant, La Polpetta.
Three years ago, when the restaurant wanted to open, the building manager consulted your company to see if it would be okay with you. Not everyone thought it was a great idea, but you convinced your co-workers to ignore the noise and the inconvenience of reduced parking because you negotiated a great deal allowing your employees to get a 30 percent discount on food items. The arrangement has been great. Your employees think of it as a great perk, and about ten of them use it on a regular basis. Several more employees gather at the restaurant’s bar each Friday for happy hour, and on more than one occasion, you’ve hired the restaurant to cater important lunch meetings with clients and host the firm’s annual holiday party.
No Deal with Shane
You recently hired two new employees. They visited the restaurant on their first day for lunch and were told by Shane, a relatively new manager, that the employee discount deal was no longer in effect. According to the employees, Shane was very terse and said too many people were using the discount and it was becoming inconvenient for them. You had never heard anything about this.
You went to see him, and he likewise had a bad attitude with you. He said that the two senior law partners would be able to enjoy the discount, but that no one else would. You asked to talk with the restaurant’s owner, Lucia Marino, with whom you had negotiated the original deal and with whom you have a friendly professional relationship. Shane informed you that Lucia is overworked and too busy. He said he has been asked to handle problems at the front of the house so Lucia can catch up on her bookkeeping, and he has decided not to let her know you are here.
It occurred to you that Shane may have decided to make this change without even talking to Lucia. When you tried to explain to him that you thought the employee deal was still in effect, he simply said, “Sorry,” and walked away to greet other customers.
Assignment
Write a letter to Lucia, using appropriate business letter format, in which you request a meeting between her and you to talk about your arrangement and clarify if there have been any changes to it. Make sure she understands that you would like the employee discount to remain in effect. Remember that it is likely that Shane will be a gatekeeper audience for this letter.
Sample Solution