freki:

I don't think I could hold my tongue. I would object to the woman's bigoted language with a fair amount of confidence, because this is litigation-land where anybody can sue for anything. I doubt the boss would be stupid enough to do anything to the LW if she spoke up, especially if she dropped keywords like "Better Buisness Bureau" and "ALCU".

I don't think most of the stuff that goes on at my mom's workplace comes out of maliciousness, so making a formal complaint would blow things out of proportion - better that she find a friendly way to let her co-workers know they're out of line. Her boss did do something rather inappropriate once by asking everyone to thank Jesus Christ during what was supposed to be a non-denominational holiday office party: mom could have reported her to the company's Diversity Board, but that would not have gotten the woman fired and mom would be suffering from retaliation thereafter. She already has trouble because the boss is a bully and mom doesn't bend over for her.

Quitting over this issue and finding a new job would actually be difficult for my mother as well. She's a doctor working at an outpatient clinic - therefore in a professional field where news about particular people travels around quickly - and since she is no longer young and energetic, it would be hard for her to find another job where the hours suit her well. She just kind of has to make the best of things where she is, and I would like to help her do that if I can.