Conduct an Ethical Dilemma Interview

Question

Imagine you are the branch manager of a local bank in your community. Your assistant manager, Tom, has worked at the bank for over five years and has been a valuable employee. Recently, there have been several complaints from female coworkers regarding Tom’s constant jokes about women. When confronted about the issue in the past, Tom claimed the comments were all in fun and no harm was intended. However, the women in the department find many of his jokes tasteless and feel they have no place in the workplace. Although you personally feel Tom is just being himself, you must now take a more serious approach to address this issue. Before you speak with Tom about the most recent complaints against him, you would like some guidance from your Human Resources department (HR). For this assignment, interview someone you know from the HR department within your current or former organization about the ethical dilemma in the above scenario. Explain to your peer that you are working on an assignment for your MBA program and would appreciate his or her insight regarding the most appropriate actions a manager should take based on the company’s Ethics and Business Code of Conduct policies. Since some of the female employees have expressed feelings of being uncomfortable around Tom because of his sexist comments, you are also interested in learning about any potential legal implications relative to sexual harassment and fair treatment for all employees. After your interview, ask yourself the following questions: What did you learn from your interview? What recommendations did your interviewee make regarding this situation? How will you apply the information you received regarding potential legal implications? Do you feel you are now prepared to address Tom’s behavior? Why or why not? Submit the interview questions you formulated along with a summary of your findings. Also include a reflection of the interview process and whether or not you feel it was effective. Support your assignment with at least three scholarly resources. In addition to these specified resources, other appropriate scholarly resources, including older articles, may be included.

Answer

Ethical Dilemma Interview

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Ethical Dilemma Interview

 This study was commissioned based on a hypothetical situation of growing complaints about an assistant manager’s tasteless sexist comments about female employees that borders on sexual harassment in a manager’s attempt get more information regarding the ethical dilemma. An interview schedule was organized with the human resource manager to give his insights regarding this issue and the most appropriate action that the manager should take based on the existing Code of Conduct and laws governing employee relations.

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To explore this ethical dilemma, the following interview questions were used:

1. What do you understand by the term sexual harassment at workplaces?
2. What are the various forms of sexual harassment at the contemporary workplace?
3. What does the company’s code of conduct say should be done in relation to sexual harassment?
4. What are the legal implications of sexual harassment?

I learned several things from the interview. Firstly, sexual harassment at workplace is involves requests for sexual favors, unwelcome sexual advances, and other potentially offensive physical or verbal conduct that is of a sexual nature (Hopkins, 2006). It is also regarded as an unlawful sex discrimination which has a negative impact on an individual’s employment conditions and work performance by creating a hostile environment in which workers are subjected to intimidation (Equal Rights Advocates, 2013). According to ILO, acts of sexual harassment make victims feel powerless and humiliated. This problem can affect an organization negatively due to low concentration and low output by its employees (Deirdre, 2005).

I also learned that sexual harassment comes in different forms, including physical ones like rape and inappropriate touching of a person’s body. Verbal harassment involves acts like comments that directly or indirectly relate to a person’s sex or sexual messages, and sexist jokes. I also got to know that sexual discrimination involves treating people differently based on their sex. On the other hand, non-verbal conduct involves display of sexually suggestive materials and gestures (Rubenstein, 1992; Hopkins, 2006; Equal Rights Advocates, 2013).

The HR manager categorically stated that workplace sexual harassments needs to be prevented and stopped. He added that the law requires employers to have a policy prohibiting sexual harassment. The policy should highlight among other things the steps to correct sexual harassment acts. Workers should be informed of their right and the steps to follow whenever such an act arises. Such a course of action is important because the employers at times can be legally responsible for such offenses (Equal Rights Advocates, 2013).

The interviewee stated that when an employee is sexually harassed, he/she is supposed to report the matter to the human resources manager or to his/her immediate supervisor. However, these claims can at times be difficult to prove. Thus, it is recommended that they be reported in writing so as to act as proof during legal redress. But at the company level, the employer has a mandate to draft the policy and procedures for dealing with this matter, including the company’s Ethics and Business Code of Conduct policies. Sometimes, workers’ unions can take up the matter and follow it up on behalf of their members. Some of the available remedies available for human resource persons to act against the offenders include simply to warn them against such behaviors and in extreme cases, terminating the employment contracts of the employees involved in these offenses (Deirdre, 2005).

The interviewee also told me that sexual harassment matters can also be taken up by the legal bodies responsible for the administration of justice. Employees following this route should be protected from retaliation by their superiors, and witnesses’ jobs should be protected too. In most countries and under International law, these cases are regarded as crimes, and therefore appropriate legal criminal sanctions should be expected. In this case, offenders may be fined or imprisoned. When this course is followed, the victim may not be compensated unless he/she files a civil case (Deirdre 2005). Having obtained all this information, I now feel more prepared to handle the assistant manager’s case.

References

Deirdre, M. (2005). Conditions of work and employment program: Sexual harassment at        work, national and international responses. Geneva: International Labor Organization.

Equal Rights Advocates. (2013). Sexual Harassment at Work: Know Your Rights Guide. Web.

Hopkins, R. (2006). Labor and Employment Alert: Sexual Harassment and Retaliation in the Workplace: What Nonprofits Need to Know. London: Hauer & Feld LLP.

Rubenstein, M. (1992). Dealing with sexual harassment at work: The experience of industrialized countries. Geneva: International Labor Organization.