Homework Help- Business Ethics Essay Case Study Question and Answers
Business Ethics: Essay
Write an essay about 4 pages in length (not over 5 pages) with 12-point font, 1.5 spacing between lines, and standard margins.
Prompt: The following6cases (A-F) below, and answer questions (I) and (II) about each case you chose, clearly and thoroughly. Do not use any outside information or online informationbut only the information from the handout below the cases (“Legal and Illegal Firings”)to make your argument about each case. (Even if the case really occurred, and I have made a factual error in my account of it, still use only the information provided here about the case, as if this rendering of it is 100% true.). Choose, one of the following theories, universal rules, Utilitarian, rights or virtue.
(I) is the case as described a legal firing in California? If it is, defend it; if it is not, what detail (either explicitly in the case or implied by the case) would show it is an illegal firing? Explain. (You may “unearth” a detail that would make the firing illegal, but the detail must be consistent with the case.)
(II) is the casedescribedan ethical firing (in any state)?Apply any 1 of the 4 ethical theories we have: utilitarian theory (the greater good), universal principles of right and wrong, human rights, or virtue theory (personal character).Justify your conclusion. You must use each one of the 4 ethical theories in this essay at least once. So, you can use utilitarian theory for 2 of the 5 cases you are analyzing, but then you must use universal rules, human rights, and virtue ethics for the other 3.
Case (A): Ron loved music and was lucky enough to get a job at a record company. It was an entry level job, but he did get perks: He could meet with singers and groups and have lunch with them when available. To promote the company’s artists, those in charge of promotions would get hundreds of CDs to give to radio stations or other venues to promote the new album or band. Ron noticed his supervisor, Dan, was always taking 100s of CDs but he (Ron) never saw Dan give them to any outlets that would air the music. He soon found out why. It turned out Dan was making extra money by selling the promotional copies to record stores in town (to be sold, brand new). Ron didn’t know what to do. He did not want to report his supervisor Dan, but he eventually decided this was illegal and if he failed to report it, he would be viewed as an accomplice. So, Ron mentioned to Dan’s supervisor, Steve, what was occurring. The practice was deemed by Steve to be highly improper. Dan, Ron’s supervisor, was fired. But then, after thanking Ron for bringing the matter to his (Steve’s) attention, Ron was also fired. It was explained to Ron that though he did the right thing, he had rendered himself unemployable at this company. With his demonstrated lack of loyalty to his supervisor, no other supervisor would want to work with him. “Nobody likes a snitch.” Was Ron legally fired? Was he ethically fired?
Case (B): CristiDegrass, age 22, was just hired high school Spanish teacher at a public high school in Irvine. During the spring semester, some juniors discovered online that she was Playboy’s Co-Ed of the Year the previous year, her senior year in college. Online, Cristi is pictured nude in photos and videos, and she simulates lesbian sex with another co-ed. In a behind-the-scenes conversation in one of the online videos, Cristi says, “I’m gonna be a Spanish teacher. If you teach at a high school level, you have to, like, major in the area that you are teaching.” The high school decided to invoke its at-will employment right and terminatedCristi.Was this a legal firing in California? Was this an ethical firing?
Case (C):Gregory Salcido is a high school history teacher and a member of the Pico Rivera City council in southern California. In 2018 one of his students (who was wearing a Marine sweatshirt whose older brother is a Marine) filmed him on his cell phone and released the footage on the internet. Salcido could be heard (and seen) saying to his students: “The military are not high-level bankers, they are not academic people, they are not intellectual people. They are the lowest of the low.” And: “I don’t understand why we let the military guys come over here and recruit you at school. We don’t let pimps come in the school.” He also told the student who was wearing the Marine Corps sweatshirt to not join the military. The El Rancho Unified School District released a statement a few weeks after the video went viral: “Our classrooms are not the appropriate place for one-sided discussions that undermine the values our families hold dear.” Salcido was terminated by the district and could not return to El Rancho High. Was this firing legal in California? Was it ethical?
Case (D): Gustavo is the manager of aTarget in Irvine. He notices his grocery department manager, Jake, onSunday (a day he was not scheduled to work), walking his dog in a public park and wearinga white supremacist tee shirt andan anti-immigrant cap, which read, respectively: “The U.S. Was Founded by Whites not Blacks or Hispanics” and “Illegals Get No Legal Rights.” Gustavonotified upper management and Target invoked their at-will employment right and gave Jake notice of termination. Was this a legal firing in California? An ethical one?
Case (E): Tim ownsa Hooters restaurant. One of his servers,Gina, has been with them 2 years (she was hired when she was 18). Shehas recently undergone a breast reduction surgery. Subsequently, her tips have declined and she is not as in-demand as the other female servers anymore, who all have larger breasts now. Gina did not tell Hooters about the operation beforehand, nor did she tell the company why she elected to have it. Management decides it is better for business to let her go, so they invoke their at-will employer rights and fire her. Was this a legal firing in California? An ethical one?
Case (F): Isabelle works in an office building where smoking is not permitted, so she can only smoke on her breaks and has to leave the building to do so. Most of her fellow workers congregate around the back door to smoke their cigarettes, but Isabelle prefers to sit in her car and listen to music on the radio during her 15 minute breaks. One day, as she had done dozens of times before, Isabelle was sitting in her car smoking a cigarette during a proper break. This time, however, the owner of the business happened to look out his window and saw Isabelle smoking in her car. For an unknown reason, he decides to fire her the moment she returned from her break. Is this a legal termination in CA? An ethical one?
