My guess is that whatever (South American?) bank this is probably has way different attitudes than, say, a London bank. Since that executive apparently thought it was ok to send that wacked out email, he probably feels pretty secure. You want to be careful you don't do something that will backfire on you and your friend. (To the German poster: places like Mexico, Columbia and Peru are not like Germany, you don't get lifetime employment. In Columbia and places like that, a boss can fire you instantly and easily and the worker has zero recourse.)
First of all, aside from the racism, he says he called--obviously to verify that the employee was not screwing off when they said they were "sick". Since he/she did not answer, he is going to assume he/she was not actually sick, but taking personal time. At a lot of high-powered banks, workers are expected to work their butt off night and day, and they definitely don't appreciate first-year associates who call in sick just to take time off. I don't know how long your friend has been at the bank, but if it is less than 3 years they could easily be fired if upper management decides the worker is a slacker.
Your problem is not so much a bigotted VP, as the possibility that your friend might be viewed as "not good material". If you go in with guns blazing defending somebody who is slacking off by making racism charges, you could easily get BOTH of you fired.
Anyway... at the end of the day, it is not your fight anyway. This is the victim's problem. Why are you even involved? Are you a man "protecting" a female? If that is the case, SHE needs to handle the situation, not you. What you should do is nothing. What SHE should do is get her butt back to work, tell the "colleague" that she does not appreciate his snide, vaguely racist remarks, and focus on eliminating any perception that she is a slacker. That is the correct course of action.
