The Case of Billy Tushoes

Reneging on a Promise

Billy Tushoes recently received an offer to join the accounting firm of Tick and Check LLP. Billy would prefer to work for Foot and Balance LLP but has not received an offer from the firm the day before he must decide whether to accept the position at Tick and Check. Billy has a friend at Foot and Balance and decides to call her to find out whether an offer is forthcoming. His friend explains the delay is due to the recent merger of Vouch and Trace LLP with Foot and Balance and states that the offer should be forthcoming. However, Billy gets nervous about the situation and decides to accept the offer from Tick and Check.

A week later, Billy receives a phone call from a partner at Foot and Balance who had promised to contact him about the firm’s offer. Billy is offered a position at Foot and Balance at the same salary as Tick and Check. He has one week to decide whether to accept that offer. Billy is not sure what to do. On the one hand, he knows it is wrong to accept an offer and then renege on it. On the other hand, Billy has not signed a contract with Tick and Check, and the offer with Foot and Balance is his clear preference because he has many friends at that firm.

Questions:

1) Do you think it is ever right to back out of a promise that you gave to someone else? If so, under what circumstances? If not, why not?

2) Identify the stakeholders and their interests in this case.

3) Evaluate the alternative courses of action for Billy using ethical reasoning. What should Billy do? Why? You may wish to refer to pgs. 70-73 of the supplemental text and pgs. 78-82 of your textbook when developing your answer.

The case of Billy Tushoes is a common ethical dilemma that many people are faced with when considering the acceptance of a job. Billy has been put in a difficult situation to make a decision to keep the position he has already accepted with Tick and Check LLP, or to break his promise and commitment with Tick and Check...