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Business Law Ethics
Special Directions for Cases 1 -- 5: The following cases have been carefully chosen to represent several of the most pressing ethical dilemmas facing American business today. When answering the questions at the end of each case, consider the ethical character trait or traits that would guide your decision-making. Avoid the theory of subjective ethics. Be less concerned with the "right" answer and more concerned with applying the ethical decision-making process properly.
Howard Wieder, an attorney, asked the members of the law firm for which he was employed, to assign one of their number to act as his representative in negotiating the purchase of an apartment in a condominium. An attorney in the firm, L.L., was designated to handle Wieder's negotiations. Unfortunately, L.L. did everything but handle Wieder's condominium negotiations. In fact, he not only neglected the negotiations, but also made many "false and misleading representations," carefully calculated to cover up that neglect. As soon as Wieder figured out that L.L. was lying to him, he reported the misconduct to two senior attorneys in the law firm. Each of these senior attorneys admitted that L.L.'s misconduct did not surprise them. Moreover, they revealed that they knew "(t) hat [L.L.] was a pathological...
Wieder v. Skala, 609 N.E.2d 105 (NY).
For evils to occur, sometimes all that is necessary is for good people to stand aside and do nothing -- as clearly has been the case at this particular firm. However, not only do the attorneys have a moral obligation to the truth. As attorneys they have an ethical obligation to ensure that justice is done according to the standards of the American Bar Association so that the legal profession is not besmirched, and that their clients are not injured. The 'PLUS' system of ethical decision making, is often defined as "Step 1: Define the problem Step 2: Identify alternatives Step 3: Evaluate the alternatives Step 4: Make the decision Step 5: Implement the decision Step 6: Evaluate the decision" (Ethics Toolkit, 2004) However, the problem is not simply regarding Wieder's clients whom have been harmed, but the fact that the firm's other attorneys owe an obligation to the clients who may be harmed by the offending attorney's incompetence and lies. Also the firm may be harmed, including its reputation built up by other attorneys then themselves.
The ethical character trait of greatest consideration is professional obligation and ethics. This is why New York State has laws…
But in the decision-making by the court, the court feared that upholding such a standard in the case would place an undue burden on employers, namely that obligation could be implied which would be inconsistent with other terms of the contractual relationship. "Thus, in the case now before us, plaintiff's employment was at will, a relationship in which the law accords the employer an unfettered right to terminate the employment at any time. In the context of such an employment it would be incongruous to say that an inference may be drawn that the employer impliedly agreed to a provision which would be destructive of his right of termination." Ethically, the plaintiff may have been sound and the defendant's decision unsound, but the court feared setting a precedent regarding employment that could be legally abused, given the right to terminate clause in the employee's contract. (NY Court of Appeals Collection, 2004)
In 1994, a total of 125 midshipmen at the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis were suspected of being involved in a cheating scandal that affected the results of an electrical engineering examination. A civilian panel was convened to investigate the allegations of cheating. The honor code of the Naval Academy is based on the premise that officers in the United States Navy should not lie, cheat, or steal. Clearly, if the 125 midshipmen accused of cheating really did so, they violated the ethical character traits of honesty, integrity, and fairness. However, what about those midshipmen who knew about the cheating but did nothing to stop it or report it later? Were they obligated to step forward and inform their superiors of the activities of their fellow students? Would protecting fellow students violate or support the ethical character traits? Explain.
The honor code at the naval academy does not require students to turn in other students. However, the students who cheated put the integrity of all student exam results into question, as the cheating had an undue advantage in their performance.
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