A Case in Business Ethics:She Stoops to Conquer
of installing the devices leads to the maxim: ‘Although everyone has a right to privacy, I can violate that right whenever I feel justified in doing so without having to inform the people concerned’. This is very difficult to make universally acceptable and indeed it is unlikely Fanuchi would agree to it if situations were reversed.
A Prima facie obligation is an obligation that can be overridden by another more important obligation. Ordinarily it could be argued that Fanuchi felt that finding the culprit was more important than protecting her employees’ privacy. The problem is that freedom of privacy is a moral right (specifically a human right) that every human is entitled to. So taking away that right cannot be justified without the permission of the individuals concerned or at the very least, their knowledge of it.
Many organizations disregard their employees right to privacy and informed consent. They monitor their phone calls, e-mails and some even snoop in desks after office hours. If employees give their consent, then there is no problem but if they are simply informed of it or not even told, this can great a lot of moral dilemmas and risks for the company concerned.
WORKS REFFERED TO:
Business Ethics-Shaw, H.William, Canada: Wadsworth, 2002
Ethics: Reading and Cases in Corporate Morality-Hoffman, W.M. and Frederick, R.E.
New York: McGraw-Hill, 1995
http://www.ethics.ubc.ca