WEEK TWO ASSIGNMENT
ETHICS: PROFESSOR KNOX
GROUP A
A newspaper columnist signs a contract with a newspaper chain. Several months later she is offered a position with another newspaper chain at a higher salary. Because she would prefer making more money she notifies the first chain that she is breaking her contract. The court will decide the legality of her action. But what is the morality? Did she the columnist behave ethically?
An airline pilot goes for his regular medical checkup. The doctor discovers that he has developed a heart murmur. The pilot only has one month to go before his retirement. The doctor wonders whether, under these unusual circumstances she is justified in withholding the information about the pilot’s condition.
(1) An employment contract is a contractual relationship between an employer and an individual employee or organization. My first issue at hand is the terms under which the contract was signed. The court has to determine whether it was stated on the contract that the columnist was locked in until the term were fulfilled under which she would be ethically wrong to break that contract. If an employee willingly breaks the terms of their contract it is unethical behavior and should be held accountable for those actions. Understandably the columnist has researched and came across a better opportunity which is financially gainful to her but she also had to explore the ramifications for accepting their offer of employment as it was presented to her. Consideration had to be taken by the columnist that time and money was spent on recruiting her for the job and ensuring that she was settled in a comfortable environment to conduct her duties accordingly and up to company standards.
On the other hand it is not immoral to break a contract to pursue better opportunity for oneself if the term of the contract does not state that she had to serve for a certain period of time before leaving. Immorality would come into play if