3. Would I change the Documents?
• No
• Not illegal but also not ethical
• Should not be expected to behave unethically
• Maintain personal integrity
• Prior leader’s responsibility
• Should not support unethical behavior of others
• Administrator would know
• Not guaranteed but possible
3
4. Would I confront my supervisor?
• Yes
• Explain my position
• Ensure supervisor not being insubordinate
• Express understanding of suggestion
• Explain possibility of negative reflection if administrator found out
• Explain in further detail
• Concern for perpetuating unethical behavior
• Losing supervisor accept responsibility
• Promoting a healthy and honest workplace
• Offer an alternative
• Take suggestion to assist in evaluation
• Keeps evaluation accurate
• Is more fair to the employee
4
5. Next Course of Action?
• Make a plan
• Invite losing supervisor to plan with myself and supervisor
• Explain benefits of doing the right thing
• Makes losing supervisor look ethical and honest
• Offer to perform evaluation together
• Decreases work they will have to do
• Ensures an accurate evaluation for employee
5
6. Which Other Actions Do I Take?
• Investigate potential outcomes for those involved
• Allows me to share with parties
• Prepares me for all consequences
• Document all conversations
• Conversations with my supervisor
• Conversations with losing supervisor
• Conversations with legal
• Creates a paper trail to protect my best interests
• Protects the employees best interest
6
7. Which Ethical Framework Supports My
Decisions?
• Duty Framework
• Consistent expectations of all people
• Following moral rules
• Holds everyone accountable
7
8. References
Bonde, S., & Firenze, P. (2019, August 17). A framework for making ethical decisions.
Society and Business Anthology.
https://open.maricopa.edu/societyandbusiness/chapter/a-framework-for-making-ethical-
decisions/
Ledlow, G. R., Bosworth, M., & Maryon, T. (2024). Leadership for Health Professionals.
Burlington: Jones & Bartlett.
I am being asked to change documentation of an employees transfer date because the prior supervisor weren’t aware it needed to be done before they were transferred into my department. They don’t want to do the employees evaluation now because it would reflect negatively on their ability to manage. My supervisor advised me to change the dates on the transfer forms but still have the prior manager do a 12 month evaluation instead of a 9 month evaluation with some input from me to ensure at least the review information would be accurate. Legal has informed me that this isn’t illegal but if I’m still uncomfortable with the situation, I should discuss the matter further with my supervisor.
I wouldn’t change the documents. Even though it has been explained to me that altering the documents to reflect the inaccurate dates is not illegal, it is still unethical to do. In a professional environment where ethics is at the forefront of the majority of the decisions that we make, a person should not be expected to behave in and unethical manner. Personally, I want to maintain my personal integrity as a professional and a leader. Behaving in and morally and ethically correct way encourages faith from a managers subordinates. In this situation, the evaluation was the prior leaders responsibility. Should I choose to do as I’m being asked, it would support another persons unethical behavior simply to shield them from potential consequences of their actions. In addition to this, should there be an investigation into this matter later, the administrator who initiated the changes that caused the transfer would be able to see that the information on the evaluation didn’t match the transfer dates.
I would approach my supervisor to resolve the matter. Because of the sensitivity of the situation and not wanting to be seen as insubordinate or dishonest, I would explain my position to my supervisor in a way that they could understand things from my perspective. Letting them know that I do not want to disobey what they are asking me to do and that I truly respect their authority and the reason they suggested that I alter the documents. However, the only reason the prior manager doesn’t want to do the evaluation is because of the potential repercussions casting a negative light on their leadership abilities. I would then explain that it makes me uncomfortable to know that such changes could be seen by those higher up and not only reflect negatively on me and the other leader but also on my supervisor. I would explain that not doing this the ethical way only perpetuates the unethical behavior of leadership and that the losing supervisor should accept their consequences if there are any. By doing things the ethical way we set an example that promotes a healthy and honest workplace. I would then make the suggestion to assist the other leader in the evaluation as my supervisor had suggested because it would help to keep the evaluation accurate and it is more fair to the employee.
Make a plan to conduct this evaluation ethically. First, I would invite the other leader to assist in planning the evaluation with myself and my direct supervisor. I would explain to them the benefits of doing the right thing. For example, should someone above notice that the leader had erroneously forgotten to do the evaluation before the employees transfer 60 days ago, they would also see that they corrected their mistake. This would demonstrate ethical behavior and show integrity on their part, which are attributes that are highly valued in a good leader. Additionally, I would offer to help with the evaluation so that it wouldn’t take up too much of their time and would decrease the amount of work they had to do. We could complete the necessary forms and conduct the in-person evaluation together. This would demonstrate that the prior manager and myself agree on the employees performance. I would also explain that with both their input and mine, the evaluation would be accurate and fair.
Amidst all of this, I would make sure to investigate all potential outcomes for myself and for the others involved. This would allow me to prove my point when discussing options with the other leaders. It also prepares me for the possible repercussions I might face if the other leaders refuse to work with me. In addition, I would document all conversations whenever possible. This includes conversations with my supervisor, the losing supervisor, with human resources, with the subordinate staff member, and with legal. Creating this paper trail would help me to protect my own interests as well as the interests of the employee while doing the right thing.
The ethical framework that best describes my decisions in this situation is the duty framework. This is because the framework applies the same expectations on all people and their actions. This facilitates the creation of a fair work environment and sets a good example for management and subordinates. In this particular situation, the same thing had happened many times before. In the past, leadership chose to do the unethical thing by altering information to fit the situation and cover up the error. It happened often enough that the decision to do so in this case was made without any question of ethics. If they had followed the duty framework, the current situation would not have happened at all. The duty framework also requires that everyone follows a set of moral rules regardless of outcome. It would also discourage people from acting unethically in the first place because everyone would take responsibility for their actions. Lastly, it ensures that everyone is accountable for what they do and how they do it. The duty framework would inhibit the ability to pass responsibility or blame onto others. This fosters an environment of integrity and honesty.
