Purpose -The present study aims to apply the construct of microaggressions to organizational contexts by examining perceptions of discrimination in ambiguous interactions between White supervisors and Black subordinates and their impact on work outcomes under varying conditions of leader fairness. Design/methodology/approach -US participants (N ¼ 387) responded to scenarios describing supervisor-subordinate interactions involving subtle to blatant discrimination, after being told either that the supervisor had a history of fair, equitable treatment of subordinates or that the supervisor had a history of unfairness and inequity. Findings -Leader equity impacted discrimination perceptions, affording leaders greater benefit of the doubt in ambiguous interracial interactions. For all levels of microaggression severity, microaggressions were perceived less when the supervisor had a reputation for equity and fairness; expected work outcomes were also better when the supervisor had a reputation for equity and fairness at all levels of microaggression severity. Research limitations/implications -As blatant discrimination grows more and more unacceptable, examining the subtle and sometimes unintended aspects of workplace discrimination is increasingly important. The authors' results suggest that a leader's reputation for equity and fairness may mitigate the effects of racial slights. Originality/value -To the authors' knowledge, this is the first study to examine the impact of leader equity on microaggressions and the first to empirically explore the impact of microaggressions on work outcomes. Their results suggest the importance of establishing leader reputations of fairness and training staff to recognize even subtle forms of discrimination and exclusion.

Access to this document was granted through an Emerald subscription provided by emerald-srm:573577 [] For AuthorsIf you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information. About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.comEmerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company manages a portfolio of more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as providing an extensive range of online products and additional customer resources and services.Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation. AbstractPurpose -Drawing on social categorization, relational demography, and faultline theories, the purpose of this paper is to examine interpersonal relationships between Hispanic American, European-American, African-American, and Asian-American coworkers in relation to language use in the workplace (English or Spanish). Design/methodology/approach -Employed adults (n ¼ 97) participated in one of four racioethnicspecific focus groups (Hispanic American, European-American, African-American, and Asian-American) at each of four worksites in order to assess their reactions to working in a linguistically diverse environment. Interviews with onsite management and human resource directors were also conducted. Findings -Language issues created noticeable faultlines between English and Spanish speakers. In total, six themes representing issues for multilingual organizations emerged: inclusion vs exclusion, assimilation vs ingroup identification, essential communications, composition issues, utility of speaking English, and negative affective responses. Research limitations/implications -Results highlight the difficulties inherent in working in multilingual groups and the challenges they present for organizations. Results also suggest the importance of group composition in the development of language issues. Originality/value -This paper is among the first to present insight into the experiences of workers in linguistically diverse workplaces, and the barriers presented by language differences. As the number of Hispanics in the US workforce continues to increase, maintaining effective relationships between Spanish and English speakers at work becomes especially important for organizational success. Suggestions for managing a multilingual workforce are included.