Question

The owner at Sunny Golf Course doesn’t understand why cash sales on beer has dropped and deceased members are being charged for food and services. He hires you to be the waitress on the golf course. You are excited about it because you get to drive on a golf cart. You find out that the co-workers are only accepting cash from golf members and purposely charging deceased members.

What do you do? You really want to fit in and don’t want to tell on your co-workers.  

Answer 1

Every organization has a Code of Ethics that outline its mission and values. It provides guidelines on how workers and management are expected to approach their problems, even if they pose an ethical dilemma. The Code of Ethics provides a set of minimum requirements for conduct and behavioral expectations.

In the instant case, there was a fraud being perpetrated at the work place. As a worker, the waitress has a duty to report any instance of fraud happening at the work place, specially when the owner has specifically hired her for the purpose.

Having discovered the fraud, the waitress is duty bound to report the matter to the Owner immediately. Not doing so would be unethical, and would be tantamount to negligence, and in extreme cases, being held as an accessory to the crime. Loyalty to unethical co-workers makes negligence or wanton indifference also unethical.