Other people find various ways to utilize words to give them different meanings. Example: The word "nigger" was given a "funeral" by the NAACP in 2007
NAACP buries the word nigger, entertainers resurrect it:: Black Press Magazine.com While the NAACP and other community leaders tries to bury the racist history of the word, others such as musicians and other artists have embraced the word and use it in a variety of ways. Example: the word "Bitch", generally seen as a derogatory term for women, feminists brought new meaning to it by starting "Bitch" magazine, and in the same way as gays did, women took back the power by referring to each other as "bitches" in endearing ways.
I am not saying people should not
feel something when these words are used, just remember they only have the meaning you allow them to. This employee may or may not have meant the word "chink" to be offensive, we will probably never know. As Enola pointed out, she didn't notice the racial undertones until it was mentioned, so why should anybody else?
It all depends on the old journalistic rules: who, what, why, when, where and how.