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Issues of Integrity

The document describes a case where a woman was sexually harassed by a senior executive. During settlement discussions, she was offered a large monetary settlement but required to say the executive did nothing wrong. The company wants to retain the executive despite his past harassment because he generates revenue. There are issues around integrity, ethics, and law, including whether the company should protect a harasser for profit, requiring the victim to lie, and the impact on future employees. The woman has options to reject the settlement and pursue legal action, risking her job, or accept it and allow more victims.

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3Q Junior Taman Midah
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223 views3 pages

Issues of Integrity

The document describes a case where a woman was sexually harassed by a senior executive. During settlement discussions, she was offered a large monetary settlement but required to say the executive did nothing wrong. The company wants to retain the executive despite his past harassment because he generates revenue. There are issues around integrity, ethics, and law, including whether the company should protect a harasser for profit, requiring the victim to lie, and the impact on future employees. The woman has options to reject the settlement and pursue legal action, risking her job, or accept it and allow more victims.

Uploaded by

3Q Junior Taman Midah
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

Question:

A woman is sexually harassed by a top-level senior executive in a large company. She sues the

company, and during settlement discussions, she is offered an extremely large monetary

settlement. In the agreement, the woman is required to confirm that the executive did nothing

wrong, and after the agreement is signed the woman is prohibited from discussing anything

about the incident publicly. Before the date scheduled to sign the settlement agreement, the

woman's lawyer mentions that she has heard the executive has done this before, and the

settlement amount is very large because the company probably had a legal obligation to dismiss

the executive previously. The company however wants to keep the executive because he is a big

moneymaker for the company.

What are the issues of integrity, ethics and law posed in the case study? What options does

the woman have, and what should she do, and why?

Structure of the answer:

Some of the issues raised by this case study include initial issues of unethical and unlawful

conduct, by the executive and the company; whether the company should allow the executive to

continue working because of the revenue he generates, in view of his propensity to harm co-

workers, and whether this action is ethical or reflects integrity; whether the company should

require the woman to state that the executive did nothing wrong as part of the settlement

agreement; whether the woman should agree to this settlement in view of the harm future

employees are being exposed to; and whether the woman is prioritizing justice for herself over

harm to future employees in an acceptable way.

Answer:
In this case, the issue of integrity is that the organization is clearly disregarding her civil rights as

a person. Because of the amount of profit, the man brings into the business, the company

retained a man who is known for sexual harassment on staff. There should be a higher moral

standard for the corporation as a whole; this executive is going to portray the company in a

negative light all of the time.

People will eventually cease to apply because the workers are not handled fairly. Even if the

woman will receive bribe money, her memory of the abuse will not be erased.

In this case, the woman, in my opinion, has about two choices. One option is for her to reject the

settlement offer and pursue the sexual assault case further. This is a danger that could result in

her being fired from her work, but if she really wants justice, she could reveal the executive for

who he is, rather than being another silent victim.

The second choice is for her to accept the settlement, retain her job, and become another victim
of sexual harassment at the organization. This could lead to another girl ending up in the same
situation as she did.
Initial questions of immoral and illegal actions by the executive and the corporation are among
the issues posed by this case study. The organization can continue to employ the executive due to
the income he creates, despite his proclivity for harming coworkers, and this behavior is ethical
or reflects integrity if as part of the settlement agreement, the corporation should ask the woman
to say that the executive did nothing wrong if the woman should consent to this settlement in
light of the potential damage to future workers, and whether the woman is prioritizing justice for
herself in a manner that is acceptable.

Reference:

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