Legal Issue in the Professional Education Environment
Dean Moore is under no legal or ethical obligation to provide the letter of recommendation requested by Hilary Hall. In fact, Dean Moore has more of an ethical
obligation not to assist Ms. Moore in the manner requested. While no formal definitive determination was ever made as to the factual circumstances surrounding the accusations against Ms. Moore, there is a reasonable likelihood that those accusations were true.
Given the grave consequences of the actions of which Ms. Moore was accused, the dean could be risking personal liability and liability on the part of the NBSU institution if she provides a letter of recommendation that makes no reference to the circumstances of Ms.
Hall's departure from the school (Halbert & Ingulli, 2007).
The Dean may consider writing letters of recommendation to be within her professional responsibilities, but it is not; it is a gratuitous courtesy commonly granted by educators. More importantly, such requests are frequently either refused outright or indirectly, such as by the suggestion that students reconsider the request if its purpose is to bolster rather than undermine the student's candidacy in connection with which a recommendation is sought. In that regard, the dean could avoid an outright refusal and still satisfy her ethical obligation (and without creating potential liability) by advising
Ms. Hall that any letter of recommendation would necessarily reference both her academic performance and also the objective factual circumstances precipitating her withdrawal from NBSU.
The alternative of providing the requested recommendation letter without any reference to the accusations could potentially result in liability for NBSU should Ms. Hall
subsequently cause harm to patients in a similar manner (Halbert & Ingulli, 2007).
Therefore, the request should be refused unless it includes an appropriate specific reference to the circumstances of Ms. Hall's withdrawal from NBSU
References
Halbert, T., Ingulli, E. (2007). Law & Ethics in the Business Environment. Cincinnati:
West Legal Studies.
