HUM 251

Case study 9.3: She snoops to Conquer

1. If you were Jean Fanuchi, how would you feel about your decision to order the
installation of the viewing and listening devices? What other options did she have? Did
she overlook any moral considerations or possible consequences?

If I was Jean I would feel overwhelmed by the amount of information I uncovered from
installing the microphone/viewing device. By installing the devices it created additional
problems that would weigh on her conscious. I would also begin to think if it is necessary to
terminate the employees or get law enforcement involved or just mind my business about
things that do not directly affect the business. Other options she had was conducting an
investigation where she would ask other employees if they know any information about the
possible culprit and offer a reward to anyone that could help solve the problem. Another
option she had was to invest in inventory management. By having this software it can keep
record of what is missing and where there may be discrepancies in inventory. Additionally,
she could train employees on shrinkage. Jean overlooked the moral consideration for privacy.
By overlooking privacy she subjected her employees to overshare their personal information
and personal life decisions. I think she also overlooked the consequences of finding out more
information than she wanted to know about the employees.

2. Do employees have a right not to be spied on? If you were an employee at Fanuchi’s
store, would you think your privacy had been wrongly invaded?

Often corporate behavior threatens employee’s privacy. So employees had informed consent
of the spying it is morally acceptable since it implies deliberation and free choice but
monitoring employees can violate privacy. It is important that organizations try to get
consent instead of just notifying them of the practices. If I was an employee at Fanuchi’s
store I would think my privacy was wrongly invaded. She did not get consent for me to be
recorded nor was I notified as an employee. I think it was okay to record the public area of
the store but to take it to the extreme of more intimate places such as bathrooms that is not
acceptable.

3. How would you assess Fanuchi’s actions if you were the owner of the store? Whose
interests are more important in this case- the employer’s or the employees’?

If I were to assess Fanuchi’s actions I would first look at her management style. Management
style and quality drastically affect the environment and can lead to increased shrinkage if the
style does not fit the workplace environment. I would also look at the onboarding process. If
the onboarding process did not put an importance on shrinkage the employees will not value

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 it and are more likely to allow and participate in shrinkage. In this case I think the focus
should be on the employer. If the employer does not set the tone for the environment the
employees are likely to not value their place of employment and will not treat the job with
integrity.

4. Do you think Fanuchi acted immorally? Why or why not? Evaluate her action by appeal
to ethical principles.

I think Fanuchi tried to do what was best for the company but did not take the employees
privacy in mind. Therefore, she acted immorally. If she at least notified and got consent from
employees to implement this security process it would be morally acceptable but she did not
do this. Monitoring of employees can often do more harm than good by violating the privacy
of the majority of innocent employees. Also moral questions arise when monitoring devices
are not used for the original designated purpose but for cajoling, harassing, or snooping on
employees.

5. How should Fanuchi and Katwalski handle the information they’ve gathered about their
employees? What ideals, obligations, or effects are relevant to your answer?

They should handle the information by pressuring the employees to get involved in civic
activities. By doing this employees can see how their unethical actions are affecting their
community. They can also implement an off-the-job conduct. This would set a standard for
employees to follow outside the workplace. Lastly, it is important to assess the employees
wage because if they are selling drugs or using food stamps that can mean that they are
leaning towards unethical means to survive. Their actions could possibly be avoided by
seeing how they can help them and earn their respect and trust.

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