Civil Engineering Associates (CEA) of Lubbock, Texas, was established in 2009 by Robert Davidson and Walter F. Posey, both graduates of the University of Amarillo. Business for the company was good, and CEA took on six additional partners between 2010 and 2014: Alvin T. Bennett, Wayne Cook, Frank
Reynolds, John W. Castrop, George Ramirez, and Richard M. Burke—all graduates of the University of Amarillo. For the last 5 years, the partners of CEA have met every Friday for a working lunch at Coasters, a local restaurant and bar that features attractive young waitresses wearing provocative swimsuits. The customers are almost exclusively men, and the interaction between customers and waitresses often appears flirtatious. his year CEA hired Elizabeth Grider, a Missouri State University graduate, as a new partner in the firm. She has attended two of the working lunches at Coasters and finds herself uncomfortable in this environment. She does not feel, however, that she can just skip the lunches because these are the only regular times at which all of the partners gather. Projects are often discussed and work assignments decided at these Friday meetings. In addition, the lunches offer the opportunity to establish a cordial and friendly working relationship with the partners. She realizes that "Friday at Coasters" has become a long-standing tradition at the firm, and she hesitates to upset the status quo. However, she really wishes they could find a better place for their meetings. As Elizabeth Grider, write a memo to the senior partner, Robert Davidson, explaining the issue with Coasters and recommending one or more solutions. Of course, Grider will speak to Davidson directly but thinks that writing a memo will help her organize her thoughts, anticipate objections, and prepare for a likely difficult conversation. And after their meeting, she will leave the memo with Davidson as a written record of her recommendations.