CO ME

WE L Ethics case
study
presentatio
n
Jo s ue
mi l and
Ede
 ETHICAL PROBLEM/CONFLICT
Richard and Conway are talking in the hallway about the employee benefits program. Conway,
who has had some recent financial trouble, explains to Richard how the benefits program has a
loophole that will allow him to receive some financial assistance that he really needs to help pay
health care costs for his mother. Cathy, a fellow worker, overhears the conversation. Later, Cathy
is approached by her supervisor who says he heard a rumor that some people were taking
advantage of the company benefits program.
 ETHICAL ISSUE OR
CONFLICT
th at th e pro bl em is that some people
y
We were able to identif n er ror in the financing sy
stem
ad va ntag e of a
wants to take or re ached the supervisor.
ny an d th e ru m
of the compa
 Facts that have the most bearing on the
decision
1. 3.
2.

The reputation of the

The financial system can
company can go down. The company can go to
be improved.
bankrupt.
 Identify anyone who might be
affected by your decision and how..
• Cathy can be fired because we don’t know if she is going to be
honest.

• Richard can be fired because he is not being honest.

• Conway can be fired too because we don’t know if he is going to

take the money.

• The company as well can be affected if Conway happens to get the

money.
Explain what each affected person would
want you to do about the issue.
RICHARD
01 Richard doesn't want Cathy to tell her boss the
truth because he might be affected too.

CONWAY
02 Conway wants to take the money for his mother's
treatment, and he doesn't want Cathy to tell her
boss.
CATHY
03 Cathy wants to talk to her boss and
tell the true.
 List 2 alternative actions and identify the best and worst-case scenario for
each alternative, anyone who would be harmed by this choice (and how), any
values that would be compromised by selecting this alternative, and any
automatic reasons why this alternative should not be selected (legal issues,
rules, etc.)|

BEST CASE-SCENARIO WORST CASE-SCENARIO

In the best case-scenario Cathy tells her

In the worst case-scenario Cathy decided
supervisor the conversation she hears
not to tell her supervisor about the rumor,
between Richard and Conway, and the
and then Conway take advantage at the
supervisor punish Conway, who was the
loophole, which later can lead to a deficit
person that actually wanted to take
at the company.
advantage from the loophole.
Who can be affected in
the best case scenario
In the best case scenario Richard
and Conway can be severely
affected due to that Conway
wants to take advantage from the
company loophole, and Richard
can be affected because he
knows that but didn’t say
anything. (Both can be fired)
Who can be affected in
the worst case scenario
In the worst case scenario the
company can be affected because
Conway got to take advantage
from the loophole which can lead
to a deficit at the company.
REASON WHY
THE WORST
CASE SHOULD
NOT BE
SELECTED
The main reason why the worst case-
scenario shouldn’t be selected is because
it can really make a big deficit at the
company, that later can lead to the
company’s bankrupt.
 ANY
LEGAL ISSUE?
 LOOPHOLE
Actually taking advantage from a loophole doesn’t
supose any legal issue, since loophole are just an
aperture between the regulations.

Source: https://www.investopedia.com/terms/l/loophole.asp#:~:text=How%20a%20Loophole%20Works,law%20or
%20restriction%20into%20place
 Select ethical principles to guide your
decision making.
Be honest, open and
transparent
I think that this ethical
principle can apply nearly
to everyone here, because if
all of the workers where
honest then there would be
no problem.
Be truthworthy
The same is with this
principle, plus as the text
say truthworthiness is
about to fulfilling a task in
accord with what is
expected.
Select ethical principles to guide your
decision making (Cont.).
Be exemplary
our
is et hi ca l pr in ci pl e can also be applied in
I think that th yo u must show and lead by
th at m ea ns th at
case, because ca n be applied to Cathy's
m et hi n g th at
good example, so ust tell the truth.
situation since she m
Determine the
course of actions
Well first of all Cathy decided to tell
her supervisor about the conversation
she hears, where Conway told Richard
that he was about to take advantage at
the company loophole. Later on with
this informations the supervisor
decided to talk with Richard and
Conway.
After he talks with Richard and
Conway he decided to talk with
Conway and Richard and just
give them a punishment (taking
in consideration for what
Conway wanted the money),
also at the end the company
make new regulations so they
prevent that another worker try
to take advantage from the
loophole.
THANKS FOR
YOUR
ATENTIONS