I am a 36 year old white female, working at a heat treating shop comprised of nearly all men. I have recently received a promotion, putting me in more of a leadership position. I have this man I've been training for 3 months or so, and there have been several concerns I have had with him, which I have taken to my supervisor. These concerns include no motivation/laziness, cell phone use on the floor, poor attitude, and extended length of breaks. The only concern that has been dealt with has been the cell phone use on the floor, and my trainee now blames me for getting his cell phone privileges taken away. I went to my supervisor in confidence and somehow this person found out that I put in the complaint and apparently has a grudge against me. Of course this is hearsay through other employees, so I cannot be 100% sure. Wednesday, March 30th, my trainee went to my supervisor and said I was rushing him, I had a attitude and I made him postpone his lunch break. First of all, I have been told that I am in charge of my crew to get production done, and I feel I was within my rights telling him that the furnace was sitting idle and I needed the load built for it as soon as he could. I did not tell him he needed to hurry, just let him know that it was very important to production to not let equipment sit idle since the company loses money when this happens. The attitude he said I gave him was when he and I were walking to the back of the shop and I heard him say something and I didn't hear him. I asked him to repeat himself, and he got offended. I was not aware of this until later when I received my suspension. Finally, a while later, I asked him to move a load from one set of baskets to a different set so I could get them into a temper furnace. I explained these parts were on a time limit and I needed his help. He refused, and when I insisted, he went to the supervisor saying I made him postpone his break and was interfering with his personal life since he takes his breaks at certain times. We do not have set break times, and what I asked him to do took a mere 10 minutes. Later on that night, my supervisor brought me into his office and suspended me, even after I had tried to explain myself. Now here's the tricky part. My supervisor and trainee are both of different races and I am concerned that I am being discriminated against both because I am white and I am a female. My supervisor has told me that I am in charge of my crew, but when I needed help, not only did my trainee refuse, he said I was being unfair. I am in fear of losing my job permanently now, because I am not sure how to approach this man without him getting offended when I ask him to simply do the job he's being paid to do! Oh, and I have been told that I need to be more sensitive to his feelings, too. I do understand that to a point, but where do I draw the line? Any help or advice would be so appreciated! Thank You!!