As a supervisor, do I have the responsibility to report an incident of sexual harassment against a reputable manager when a staff member’s credibility is in question? Or, do I have a moral obligation to escalate the case, even though my direct management instructed me to bypass the policy?
In our lifetime, we exercise many judgment calls that may result in decisions not favorable for difficult situations. In many circumstances, we reach out for the policy handbook that describes company policies to make those decisions, but only to learn that they are vague and rely on your own judgment. But in the quest to find the answers, the books cannot help you decide what is right or wrong. According to DesJardins, “No act is ever right or wrong in …show more content…
The message is consistent about prevention, but the authority is given to each department to determine the corrective action. I had an opportunity to work for various County departments so I was familiar with some of the department policies. And over the years, I learned that each department develops a culture and adapts different behaviors, which may not be consistent in what is tolerated or acceptable.
What constitutes sexual harassment in the workplace? How do we determine whether the first offense merits an investigation? Typically, supervisors are given instructions that all cases must be reported to their management, even though there may not have any circumstantial information or witnesses. Once reported, the department will determine the course of …show more content…
(DesJardins, 37) The departments provide some structure by mandating the managers to perform precise steps in order to avoid ethical issues from arising within the County. But in contrast, the department policy handbook does not describe what decisions an executive manager should take and determine the consequence. In this case, my direct management was telling me what to do. I believed that my direct supervisor’s intention was not to harm my employee in order to help the division manager. It was unsettling to see that County management acted in a specific manner and failed to treat my employee with the same level of respect as they did for the division manager. As described in the virtues, the County did not follow this ethical theory as they were supposed to do. For the overall good of the County, it seemed that they were sacrificing one employee over
In our lifetime, we exercise many judgment calls that may result in decisions not favorable for difficult situations. In many circumstances, we reach out for the policy handbook that describes company policies to make those decisions, but only to learn that they are vague and rely on your own judgment. But in the quest to find the answers, the books cannot help you decide what is right or wrong. According to DesJardins, “No act is ever right or wrong in …show more content…
The message is consistent about prevention, but the authority is given to each department to determine the corrective action. I had an opportunity to work for various County departments so I was familiar with some of the department policies. And over the years, I learned that each department develops a culture and adapts different behaviors, which may not be consistent in what is tolerated or acceptable.
What constitutes sexual harassment in the workplace? How do we determine whether the first offense merits an investigation? Typically, supervisors are given instructions that all cases must be reported to their management, even though there may not have any circumstantial information or witnesses. Once reported, the department will determine the course of …show more content…
(DesJardins, 37) The departments provide some structure by mandating the managers to perform precise steps in order to avoid ethical issues from arising within the County. But in contrast, the department policy handbook does not describe what decisions an executive manager should take and determine the consequence. In this case, my direct management was telling me what to do. I believed that my direct supervisor’s intention was not to harm my employee in order to help the division manager. It was unsettling to see that County management acted in a specific manner and failed to treat my employee with the same level of respect as they did for the division manager. As described in the virtues, the County did not follow this ethical theory as they were supposed to do. For the overall good of the County, it seemed that they were sacrificing one employee over