Facial Discrimination

NAME

CASE: 11.5 TITLE: Facial Discrimination DATE: July 4, 2012

INTRODUCTION:

Three employees have finished interviewing college students for summer internships at Allied Products Incorporated. The employees discuss how one of the candidates was too ugly to work at Allied Products and it was also assumed that prior employee was let go because she was overweight. The employees also began discussing if discrimination on the basis of looks is unethical or even illegal.

ISSUE:

The case contemplates if it is unethical to discriminate on the basis of looks and if it is morally wrong to stereotype overweight, unattractive, short or unusual looking people in employment decisions. Do they have to offer an apparent ugly person an internship.

PRINCIPLES OF BUSINESS ETHICS:

RESPECT FOR LIBERTY AND THE CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS OF OTHERS

People should have the ability to compete for a position based upon their skills, knowledge, ability and traits. The law encourages employers to treat employees fairly, avoid discrimination based on looks and to give people a chance prior to jumping to conclusions.

RESPECT FOR HUMAN WELL BEING

The interviewers in essence were discussing if the employer should be concerned with the well being of others in employment decisions. If this business ethic is not adhered to, the employment decision would unfairly disadvantage any future job applicants that are considered fat, unattractive, or unusual looking.

ETHICAL DILEMMAS:

• Balancing Ethical Dilemmas

• The system is Unfair

• Violating Rules

• Everybody else does it

ETHICAL THEORIES:

Kant – There is harm or potential harm to society that can occur if this ethical rule is not followed and employers began to discriminate on the basis of looks, society could start categorizing fat, unattractive, or unusual looking people as failures and avoid these people all together which would be a disaster as some of our greatest minds, athletes...