Ethical Dilemma
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Dec 6, 2023
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Ethical Dilemma Assignment
By Blair Meharg (formerly Smith)
Baker College Online
BUS2810: Business Ethics and Culture
Professor Amanda Anderson
January 10, 2023
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Introduction
In this paper I am going to be discussing an ethical dilemma of fraud in the workplace.
Along with this dilemma of fraud I will be discussing the actions taken afterwards, along with
which ethical theory I would apply to the situation and why. I then am going to delve into
explaining the ethical reasoning behind how the dilemma was solved and give the results of what
happened after everything was said and done.
My Dilemma & the Actions Taken
The ethical dilemma I will be delving into today is about fraud in the workplace. I used to
work at a Dairy Queen where I grew up, and this situation ended within a couple weeks of me
having first started my job. My friend (at the time, not now) Taylor as well as our boss explained
this story to me. Now I do not remember how long this person committing the fraud was working
there for, but I would assume at least one to two years. This woman was seemingly in her late
twenties, possibly with a child too.
They explained the situation to me like this. This worker (we will call Maya) had over
time stolen more and more money out of our registers. We have one drive thru register and two
for our front counter. They said part of the reason they could never get rid of her fully is because
she was one of a few employees that they could count on to come in because of teens in the area
never wanting to work, or always calling in and getting fired. Maya was always very kind to me,
and even helped me a couple times so things could move along faster in the drive thru.
I believe because of the angle one of the cameras were at they could never catch her in
the act. Now finally around the first couple weeks of me working there, she had gotten fired. If I
remember correctly, Taylor told me that they changed the camera a tiny bit (they are older
cameras, possibly changed now) and they caught her that way, along with whenever she worked
3
shifts, the drawer would not add up correctly.
An Ethical Theory I Would Apply
For this situation in specific, I would apply the universal ethics theory. The universal
ethics theory is described as certain principles that apply to pretty much every situation, such as
morals (Ghillyer, 2020). Having morals is ethical, and everyone should have them if raised in a
good home or around good people. I would apply this theory because it is a general thing all
children should have been taught, that you do not steal or that stealing is wrong.
I feel that it is universally accepted that everyone knows stealing is wrong, and that is
why most get arrested if they steal (or rob) any place whether it's from a bank or gas station.
Another thing I feel ties into this would be ethical relevantism. This is described as where one’s
core values and traditions tie into how they feel about a situation (Ghillyer, 2020). The reason
this ties into the ethical dilemma I described is because it took quite a while to catch her in the
act. They could not just accuse her when there were one or two other employees working
registers as well, so there was really no way for them to catch her before getting her on camera.
Ethical Reasoning to Solve Dilemma
I feel the way the situation was handled was the best it could be at the time. What I feel
could have been done differently is taking this three step process into consideration if something
like this were to happen again (Ghillyer, 2020). The first step is to think about each consequence
for a possible action route. If they outright accused her after some time of change not adding up,
what would that result in? How would things have gone differently if things were done in
another way?
The next step is to think about the actions from any and every perspective. If that was
done, things could have ended differently, and they could have still kept a reliable employee for
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longer. But see that is where you think, is it really worth keeping a reliable employee if they
steal? She would not steal too much at a time, but enough to be noticed because the registers are
counted at the beginning of and ending of everyday.
The third and final step is to make the final decision and stick with it. Taking what you
thought about in the first two steps, you can then come together and make a solution. For
example when Maya was chosen to be fired because they finally had hard proof she could not
deny and sue them for, as opposed to if they accused her.
Result of the Situation
The ethical dilemma I have delved into for this paper was solved. It was solved by my
boss pulling her into the office and telling everyone else to keep doing their job. I believe then
this is where my boss sat her down, and softly explained that they are onto what she has been
doing, and that he needs to let her go permanently because they have proof, and they cannot keep
her there even if she is reliable on coming in when needed and scheduled. I believe that is where
she then turned in her visor and jacket, and later returned her shirts another day.
CITATION PAGE
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Ghillyer, A. W. (2020). Business Ethics Now (6th ed.). McGraw-Hill Higher Education (US).
https://reader.yuzu.com/books/9781260414134