She has two strong motivating reasons to not report the bribery. She could lose her work status in the United States and she would jeopardize her ability to receive her education. She owes herself and her partner a duty of care as well, to place value on her education and her ability to live in Chicago and therefore maintain the relationship. For Valerie, these considerations are powerful, since Waters' actions do not have the same strong impact on her life as reporting him could.
Valerie must determine which duties are most important -- to herself, to her partner, to the company and to her teammates. The teammates would appear to be the least relevant, the company the most relevant. Valerie is acting as in this capacity as a representative of Wisson and should conduct herself on the basis of that position. She is acting in the best interests of the company, which means she owes herself less duty of care than the company as well.
4. Valerie is in a difficult situation. The ethical code of the company is clear, but Wisson appears to lack the policies and procedures necessary to address this violation of the ethical code. However, she must also consider her personal situation. It is first worth mentioning that she does not owe a duty of care to the remaining employees in the group. The company is responsible for their well-being if Waters is fired. They are subject to employment at will, and furthermore if the product is continued post-Waters they will be under a new leader. Their lot may improve. However, their lot is not Valerie's concern. Her dilemma concerns the activity of Waters.
Valerie is unlikely to be able to continue working for Waters. The environment is already fairly poor, with low morale, so aside from her personal considerations she has no reason to continue at Wisson anyway. If she does not report the bribery, then she would be doing so simply for personal gain -- the education and her work visa. This means that she have an ethical standard equivalent to that of Waters, who also accepts bribery for personal gain. Valerie therefore cannot...
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