Charles Riffe Essay Example For Students

Charles Riffe Essay Cronan CaseemailprotectedFacts:Paul Cronan was employed by New England Telephone Company (NET) in1973 as a file clerk and promoted to service technician in 1983. In 1985,for a period of six month, Cronan began sporadically missing work due toAcquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) related symptoms. Cronans supervisor requested explanation of the absences and assuredCronan that this would be kept confidential. Cronan explained his AIDSstatus, was excused for the day, and subsequently ordered to see thecompany doctor. Two days later Cronan was informed by a co-worker that shehad heard he had AIDS and that other co-workers were threatening Cronanwith bodily harm should he return. Fearing for his safety and healthCronan requested he be placed on medical leave, this was granted withbenefits. In late August 1985 Cronan felt well enough to return to work. Heobtained the required medical fitness certification but was hesitant toreturn to the South Boston office he had worked in. Informed thatdisparaging graffiti had been left on the bathroom stalls he used, and thatmanagers within the company had promised to have his work areasdisinfected, Cronan was fearful for his safety and requested a transfer. Aresponse to his request was not forthcoming. Cronan fell ill again inearly September and received a letter offering his original position withno mention of the transfer request. In December of 1985 Cronan, assisted by the Civil Liberties Union ofMassachusetts, filed a $1.45 million civil lawsuit in state court againstNET charging violations of state privacy law for disclosure of Cronansillness. The suite also alleged discrimination, claiming that AIDS was ahandicap and thus was covered by statutes prohibiting discrimination. Cronan was hospitalized several more times but by the spring of 1986had improved. In June, he was notified that his illness benefits hadelapsed and was being placed on long-term disability, which meant he was nolonger a NET employee. In October of 1986, Cronan and NET reached an agreement allowingCronan to return to work the following week. After his return Cronan faced a hostile environment which includedwritten threats to gays and lesbians, union grievances filed stating Cronanwas a violation of the health and safety agreement, and workers refusal toenter the same building with Cronan. The union alleged NET was not providing sufficient education toemployees concerning the risks associated with AIDS. NET maintained it hadundertaken a good faith effort to educate employees concerning AIDS andthe myths associated with AIDS. Legal AnalysisIssues:Cronan was terminated when he received notice his benefits hadlapsed. Was this a legal termination under relevant employment law?Were privacy or employment rights violated when Cronans conditionwas made known to the workforce at large?In light of Cronans illness, where violations committed under theAmericans with Disabilities Act?Cronans illness could be perceived as sexual in nature. Was Cronansubjected to sexual harassment under the meaning of the applicable statues?Application:Cronans long history with illness and the related attendance recordset into motion the process leading to his termination. The companyfollowed established procedures when notifying Cronan of his eventualtermination and placement in long-term disability status. The Civil Rights Act (CRA) of 1964 applies to this case because NETemploys more than fifteen employees. The act protects workers andprospective workers from discrimination in hiring, terminating,compensating or setting the terms and conditions of employment based onsex, color, religion, race or national origin. Cronan was not an obvious member of a protected class. However, theactions of management and the nature of his illness created a situation inwhich Cronan was subject to harassment of a sexual nature, which is coveredby the Act. Your Son EssayConversely, NETS release of Cronans medical information to thegeneral employees would yield a single answer using either utilitycriteria. If utility is defined as happiness and harmony, then NET could havepreserved the maximum utility by keeping Cronans situation confidentialand continuing to employ Cronan when he was physically able to work. Thisagain correlates to increased production and would yield the same result ifutility were defined using productivity as a standard. One of the major criticisms of Utility theory is that it fails whenit is applied to situations involving social justice. In order to arriveat a different answer under Utilitarian thought, utility would need to bedefined using all persons possibly affected by discriminatory behavior likethat perpetrated by NET. In Kantian theory, an action is morally right for a person in acertain situation if, and only if, the persons reason for carrying out theactions is a reason that he or she would be willing to have every personact on, in a similar way. Simplified, due unto to others, as you wouldhave them do unto you. Examining the privacy issue one could assume that any member of NETsmanagement would not want his or her personal information released to thegeneral employee population. Kantian philosophy would indicate that it istherefore unethical for management to release private information. What if management felt the information concerned the health of otheremployee?It could still be maintained that management placed in Cronanssituation would not wish private information divulged. When Kantian theory is applied to NETs subsequent actions andbehavior the answers derived are not as clear. NETs inactions to provide reasonable considerations for Cronansillness would seem unethical because if placed in a similar situation, areasonable person would wish to be similarly accommodated. However, thisdoes not take into consideration the safety of fellow workers. Little was known about AIDS and how it was spread during the Cronancase. Medical experts were not able to say with certainty that HIV couldnot spread through some forms of casual contact. This being the case, itis reasonable to assume many individuals would feel it was correct toisolate infected individuals even if they themselves were to become theinfected party. This leads to a criticism of Kantian theory. The lack of clearresolution when the rights of differing parties clash. The theory does notprovide clear guidance as to the ranking of rights. Does ones right tofreedom and dignity outweigh anothers rights to live free from fear ofdisease and death?Under strict Kantian interpretation, if the perpetrators of an actwould wish it to be universalized, then the act is ethical. Under thisguideline, an acts ethical status depends solely upon the actor and notthe action.