There are multiple experts responding, but I feel like what resonates most strongly with my own opinions are those arguing for her to leave the company on the basis of the company’s chauvinistic culture, management bias, and integrity issues. For Elizabeth to consistently be the butt of the joke and publicly humiliated is nothing short of degrading. I feel like a reasonable option for her would be to wait that one year out (for stock options) at the London office and then consider moving. It would provide her with something to do, time/space away from Brad, the chance to look for a new job in the meantime, and a change of pace.
If I were the manager and found out about the situation, I would call in both of them separately and get their viewpoint on the entire situation, free of shame and guilt and anything else. I would then see if I could find some compromise and rope in HR if not. Additionally, it does feel inappropriate (and biased!) for a new hire to be tagging along to a high-profile conference when the person she is supposed to shadow isn’t even her mentor. What about the other hardworking sales people on the team who have been there longer? So I probably would not allow Claudia to go to the conference and see who else has been doing a good job at sales and send them, instead.
