A start-up company specializing in technology is acquired by a larger international organization located in a foreign country. Following the acquisition, a manager from the international company schedules a virtual social hour so employees on the manager's team can bond outside of work hours. During the virtual social hour, employees from the start-up experience difficulties understanding the international employees due to language barriers. An employee from the start-up writes an inappropriate comment making fun of how the international employees speak intending to send it to a co-worker but accidentally sends the message to the whole team. The manager reports the employee's behavior to an HR specialist, who documents the incident. A few weeks later the HR specialist receives an email from the employee who sent the message indicating that the employee's manager is acting hostile toward the employee, and the employee's manager mentioned that the international company should never have acquired the start-up.
How should the HR specialist address the manager's hostile behavior toward the employee?
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