Responsibility of Whom

The Employer’s Ethical Obligation

Responsibility of Whom

Quola-Kito Davis

Patrice Carrington, Esq.

Business Law 531

University of Phoenix

Abstract

This paper will explore what, if any, ethical obligations an employer has in regards to taking corrective action and/or preventative action when the employer identifies, or has motive and/or reasonable cause that an employee poses a danger to others. And if so, to whom does the duty extend and what ought that responsibility require. It will also survey how an employer having irrefutable evidence of an employee posing a threat versus only a reasonable suspicion can be managed contrarily. It will give specific situations in which the employer owes ethical obligations and what potential torts are demonstrated in the specific situations. In conclusion, it will scrutinize any potential criminal liability for the employer and the employee.

The Employer’s Ethical Obligation

Responsibility

All employers have an ethical responsibility to implement preventative or corrective measures when it knows, or has deduced that an employee poses not only an immediate danger to others but a danger period due to the foreseeability of endangerment. According to Mallor, Barnes, Mallor, Barnes, Langvardt, Prenkert, & McCrory, “As the seriousness of the harm increases, so does the need to take action to avoid it.” Quite simply, the facts that the employer has impacts what kind of and to what extent their corrective or preventative action they will take. If the employer realizes, or has reason to know, that any employee poses a danger, the employer has the ethical and social responsibility to protect its employees. As an employer, or manager, your job is to be a leader and an employee’s safety and welfare have to be the most important factor. I believe a reasonable person, or employer, of ordinary prudence would take corrective or preventative action if they knew that an employee posed a danger to others. If a...