Personal vs. Professional Ethics Essay Example

Introduction

Ethical issues are bound to happen in any firm if the workers or employers lack codes of conduct to guide their behaviors. Some of the ethical issues that workers and employers encounter include discrimination in the workplace, unsafe working conditions, fraud, and information security. One of the companies that have faced an ethical issue, sexual harassment in the workplace, recently is Vice Media. Below is the analysis of sexual harassment in the company, the effects of the act on professional and personal ethics of the employees, resolution strategies that were used to resolve the issue, optional strategies that would have been used to solve the issue and recommendations on changes that would reduce sexual harassment in the company.

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Ethical Issue

Sexual harassment is a form of discrimination and unethical practice at workplaces and there are employees that still encounter it. Vice Media is a global digital broadcasting and media company where some employees faced sexual harassment and the issue was brought to light towards the end of 2017 (O'Connor, 2018). Among the perpetrators were the chief digital officer, Mike Germano and the president, Andrew Creighton. Female employees had reported that the two leaders made sexual advances on them so as to secure job positions in the company and some were sexually harassed in the offices. Former female employees also attested that the company offered a toxic environment for women as they experienced and witnessed lewd remarks, propositions for sex and groping.

Effects

Personal ethics refers to the ethics that involve one's values and morals and relate to deep-rooted principles while professional ethics involve laying strict codes of conduct at the workplace. The effect of personal ethics that was influenced by the incident was the founders of Vice Media apologizing to all victims of sexual harassment in the firm (North, 2018). The effects of professional ethics on the employees comprised of forming new rules on increasing the number of female employees, firing the offenders and introducing a mandatory harassment training to all employees.

Resolution Strategies

The unethical issues led to the suspension of Germano and Creighton. Creighton paid $135,000 to a former employee for firing her after the employee rejected an intimate relationship offer with him (O'Connor, 2018). There were other two male employees who were fired due to their sexual harassment practices. The COO, Sarah Broderick also assured all employees that the firm was committed to having an equal number of female and male employees to offer a safer and inclusive workplace to the female employees (North, 2018). The management also planned mandatory sexual harassment training to all employees to eradicate inappropriate conduct and discrimination in the firm.

Optional Resolution Strategies

Vice Media's management has made great efforts to resolve the ethical issue in their firm, however, there are other ways they could resolve the issue. The management would have offered psychological tests and counseling sessions to the victims to ensure that the harassments they faced do not negatively affect their performance at work (Lutgen-Sandvik, Namie & Namie, 2010). It would also be important for the firm to install CCTV cameras to record any occurrences of sexual harassment within the workplace. The cameras' recordings would be important in offering evidence when resolving a harassment case in the firm.

Recommendations

The ethical dilemma in Vice Media's case involved the management team suspending and firing the offenders without enough evidence. Eventually, the firm supported Creighton as it stated that the allegations against him lacked merit. Creighton may have been guilty however lack of proper evidence influenced his reinstatement at the workplace. Employees need to report the sexual harassment cases on time when there is adequate evidence to prove that the offender is guilty (Hunt et al., 2010). Additionally, the firm needs CCTV cameras to record any sexual harassment occurrences, which act as evidence of any harassment reports from employees.

References

Hunt, C. M., Davidson, M. J., Fielden, S. L., & Hoel, H. (2010). Reviewing sexual harassment in the workplace-an intervention model. Personnel Review, 39(5), 655-673.

Lutgen-Sandvik, P., Namie, G., & Namie, R. (2010). Workplace bullying: Causes, consequences, and corrections. In Destructive organizational communication (pp. 43-68). Routledge.

North, A. (2018). Vice Media, in wake of sexual harassment allegations, hires female CEO. Retrieved from https://www.vox.com/identities/2018/3/13/17111014/vice-media-sexual-harassment-nancy-dubuc-shane-smith-me-too

O'Connor, L. (2018). 2 Vice Employees Accused Of Sexual Harassment Placed On Leave. Retrieved from https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/vice-media-creighton-germano-leave_us_5a4bbd4ce4b0b0e5a7a8f8aa