How do you stop someone from doing something really gross and offensive at work?

It's a Fillipino woman. She is pretty nice so far but she has this disgusting habit of chewing on some kind of weird seed and spitting it out. She can do this for hours everyday. It really makes me sick since it's an office space we all share. Today I said something to her like "do you do that all the time?" and she replied "yes, I like doing it" and said it even offends her husband at home. I'm white, and she's a new worker. How do I ask her to politely stop because it's disgusting and rude without sounding like I'm being culturally insensitive and starting some sh*t. I live in CA and these things can backfire on you if your not careful.

Wow! This is a hard one isn't it, particularly as she already knows it offends her husband at home. Perhaps you can tell her that it offends you at work and you both can't be wrong. Try getting it through to her that spitting is not only offensive but also its pretty unhygienic particularly in the workplace. All over the world people are trying hard not to be culturally insensitive, I'm not sure if spitting can be categorized as a cultural thing. Everyone should be comfortable in their workplace, you spend just as much time there as you do at home. So, I wouldn't bother with the cultural thing, I would just tell her straight that it is an offensive, unhygienic habit that is distracting you from doing your job. Also, you have a culture too, isn't she being culturally insensitive to you?. Failing that, you may have no choice but to escalate this to someone in your human resources or personal department.

Best of luck