Ethical Issue
In the article called Emerging Business Ethics Issues, a business problem of sexual harassment can be seen. When Lavonda went to work in EAP, she had thought of a better working environment and a motivating job because of the salary that she would be given. However, reality dawned on her when she started what she considered an intimate relationship with Allen, her immediate supervisor.
From the case, Allen has an unethical behavior of sexually harassing female employees, especially those under his supervision. Rumors of his sexual involvement with Karline that led to her promotion are widespread in the company. He is forcing Lavonda to have a sexual relationship with him to the extent of talking to her using vulgar language and touching her provocatively. In addition, he uses this demand to ensure that Lavonda’s performance level remains poor until he gets what he wants. He has also instructed Lavonda to coax Soo-Chin so that he can engage sexually with her, allow Lavonda out of the problem, and give her a promotion. The human resources department, especially the head of that department, is not willing to help Lavonda in the situation; thus, encouraging sexual harassment within the company. This problem is related to ethics, because it violates the rights of employees. The company does not allow any person to sexually harass others, but Allen is getting away with this because the human resource department is not willing to help (Reichert, n.d.) .
The issue is an ethical issue because all employees are required to observe the ethical codes of conduct provided in the company, one of which protects employees from sexual harassment. However, Allen, Karline and Lavonda violated the superior-employee ethics. They have had secretive sexual relations that are not healthy according to the company’s code of ethics. In addition, if Lavonda agrees to coax Soo-Chin to get a promotion and get out of the problem, she will have violated the ethical code of conduct. Therefore, the whole issue is an ethical issue.
