Question

LAMSON V. CRATER LAKE MOTORS Court of Appeals of Oregon 173 P.3d 1242 (2007) Case Study Decision Question #2

Why do you think the courts are shy to get involved in such incidents? Should the courts be enforcers of a company’s ethical practices and codes of ethics?

Answer 1

It is a case, where the court of appeals, reversed the judgment of the jury and the trial court, delivered the judgment in favor of the employer Crater Lake Motors acting as a defendant. Courts are shy to get involved in such incidents due to the many reasons. The one reason is that it is very difficult to prove the wrongful decisions of the employer if all legal considerations and compliances are met. The second reason is the misuse of the provision of the performing duty of public interest and running away the lawful responsibilities assigned by the employers as was the issue in this case. After-all binding the employee to participate in organizational activities does not amount to do any unethical conduct in the society. The third reason is the variation in ethical conduct with the different societies. These are non-written rules that are non-mandatory to be followed.
Courts should not be the enforce of the ethical conduct as ethics and values keep changing from one culture and society to another. So, it will create ambiguity and discourage the private property ownership or organizational activities. Here, the court of law should give directives to improve the existing set of laws so that employers are made to improve the conduct complying with the laws that will also fulfil (indirectly) the ethical obligations.