Professional Ethics and Toxic Waste
1-51 Professional Ethics and Toxic Waste
1. Discuss why Rachel has an ethical responsibility to take some action about her suspicion of the illegal dumping of toxic wastes.
Rachel has an ethical responsibility to take some action about her suspicion of the illegal dumping of toxic wastes because it is illegal to begin with and even though it might only be a suspicion, if it turns out to be true, under the eyes of the law if she knew about it and did nothing, she is just as guilty as the responsible parties. She might be working for a very prominent firm but if her suspicions turn out to be true, the minute those news go public the firm’s reputation will definitely suffer as will the firms employees. No employee wants to have to suffer the consequences of a wrong doing by the upper management of any firm and even more if the actions taken by the upper management are strictly illegal and they are knowingly performing such actions. Having found such incriminating note directed to the plants general manager and doing nothing about it is like saying you are ok with the illegal activities that you think might be taking place. Rachel is the director of financial reporting, this will be a person of interest in case an investigation takes place and if the investigation finds that she knew what was going on and did nothing, it will put her in a very bad position regarding the law and future employment. Rachel definitely has an ethical responsibility to take actions in regards to her findings.
2. For each of the three alternative courses of action, explain whether the action is appropriate.
• Seek the advice of her boss, the vice president of finance for Alberta:
This would be an appropriate action to take. Even though she might not know if her boss is directly involved in the situation, going to him with the concern is proof enough that she cares about her company and doing the right thing. If her boss is not involved she might even be somehow recognized
1. Discuss why Rachel has an ethical responsibility to take some action about her suspicion of the illegal dumping of toxic wastes.
Rachel has an ethical responsibility to take some action about her suspicion of the illegal dumping of toxic wastes because it is illegal to begin with and even though it might only be a suspicion, if it turns out to be true, under the eyes of the law if she knew about it and did nothing, she is just as guilty as the responsible parties. She might be working for a very prominent firm but if her suspicions turn out to be true, the minute those news go public the firm’s reputation will definitely suffer as will the firms employees. No employee wants to have to suffer the consequences of a wrong doing by the upper management of any firm and even more if the actions taken by the upper management are strictly illegal and they are knowingly performing such actions. Having found such incriminating note directed to the plants general manager and doing nothing about it is like saying you are ok with the illegal activities that you think might be taking place. Rachel is the director of financial reporting, this will be a person of interest in case an investigation takes place and if the investigation finds that she knew what was going on and did nothing, it will put her in a very bad position regarding the law and future employment. Rachel definitely has an ethical responsibility to take actions in regards to her findings.
2. For each of the three alternative courses of action, explain whether the action is appropriate.
• Seek the advice of her boss, the vice president of finance for Alberta:
This would be an appropriate action to take. Even though she might not know if her boss is directly involved in the situation, going to him with the concern is proof enough that she cares about her company and doing the right thing. If her boss is not involved she might even be somehow recognized