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In this disguised case, a senior manager in a federal agency must decide whether to approve the promotion of a secretary. The agency's personnel officer and chief administrative officer have argued that he should okay the promotion, even though they agreed that it was not justified on the basis of her performance. They are convinced that should the manager deny the promotion, the secretary would have a strong grievance case based on racial discrimination. The manager's dilemma becomes one of balancing a highly visible departmental and personal commitment to equal opportunity; and a broader management strategy designed to maintain an orderly and fair work environment. The case also describes the cumbersome formal grievance procedures and the inadequacies of the government's performance evaluation system, and provides some insight into the power of the personnel bureaucracy. The Case of the Non-Performing Employee is an abridged version of the case.