Is it normal for a manager to joke about employees’ accents like this?
I’m a Financial Analyst who moved to the U.S. from West Asia, and I’ve been here for about 8 years. I still have a noticeable accent, which I’m fully aware of, but it’s not like I’m hard to understand. It’s just… an accent.
I recently joined a new company, and I’ve noticed that my manager occasionally jokes about my accent saying she doesn’t understand me, calling me a “transplant,” etc. It’s not just me either. She’s made similar comments about a Polish coworker (who has a New York accent now) and even an Italian colleague. So it seems like a pattern with anyone who has an accent and not originally from Texas.
The thing is, I don’t feel deeply offended, but I also don’t love it. In the 8 years I’ve lived in the U.S., no one has really made jokes about my accent before, at least not repeatedly like this.
I’m kind of torn between just brushing it off since it’s not a huge deal to me and the jokes are not only towards me, or setting a boundary so it doesn’t keep happening.
Would you address it, or just let it go?