Running head: SEx as a protected class 1 SEx as a protected class 2 NP1. University of Redlands NP2. BUSB-300-SD12 NP3. Dr. Laura Rodriguez-O’Quinn NP4. Sex as a Protected Class NP5. March 22, 2020 NP6. Introduction NP7. This paper will analyze the question, would removing the protected class designation on 'sex' make a more robust, more competitive workforce, by equalizing the playing the field for men and women. 8. Addressing the question will involve defining and applying moral imagination, moral courage, Dr. Laura's Three Prerequisites for Assigning Moral Credit of Culpability, Utilitarianism, Kantian Ethics, Intersecting Circle's Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Model, Strict Liability Theory, Kohlberg's Moral Development Model, Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs Model, and Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). NP9. EEOC Laws and Protected Classes NP10. Protected classes are the groups protected from employment discrimination by law. 11. These groups include men and women based on sex; any group which shares a common race, religion, color, or national origin; people over 40; and people with physical or mental handicaps” 11a. (NARA, 2020, para 36). 12. The designation of a protected class requires employers to abide by the EEOC Laws. 13. The EEOC Laws are “five laws which prohibit discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, physical handicap and mental handicap in any terms, conditions, or privileges of employment” 13a. (NARA, 2020, para 16). 14. The applicable laws were designed to “correct a history of unfavorable treatment of women and minority group members” 14a. (NARA, 2020, para 36). 15. Although men and women cannot be discriminated against based on sex, the protected class of sex was designed to prevent discrimination of women in the workplace. 16. The analysis throughout the paper will focus on this fact, and decide if removing sex as a protected class will make the workforce more competitive. NP17. Moral Courage and Moral Imagination NP18. Looking at removing a protected class will involve looking at the question from multiple perspectives, this requires moral imagination. 19. Biasucci, Hernandez, and Prentice, 19a. (2020, para 1) say, "Moral imagination, according to philosopher Mark Johnson, means envisioning the full range of possibilities in a particular situation in order to solve an ethical challenge." 20. One view is that the workforce is handing out jobs to women over men, for fear of discriminating accusations. 21. If sex is no longer a protected class, then companies would be able to select the qualified individual without fear of reprisal. 22. Another way of looking at the issue is from the actual definition of protected classes. 23. Sex is a protected class, meaning that both men and women are technically protected from discrimination. 24. From this viewpoint, companies could be accused by both men and women if they feel they employers actively discriminated against them. 25. .

1. Running head: SEx as a protected class 1
SEx as a protected class 2
NP1. University of Redlands
NP2. BUSB-300-SD12
NP3. Dr. Laura Rodriguez-O’Quinn
NP4. Sex as a Protected Class
NP5. March 22, 2020
NP6. Introduction
NP7. This paper will analyze the question, would removing the
protected class designation on 'sex' make a more robust, more
competitive workforce, by equalizing the playing the field for
men and women. 8. Addressing the question will involve
defining and applying moral imagination, moral courage, Dr.
Laura's Three Prerequisites for Assigning Moral Credit of
Culpability, Utilitarianism, Kantian Ethics, Intersecting Circle's
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Model, Strict Liability
Theory, Kohlberg's Moral Development Model, Maslow's
Hierarchy of Needs Model, and Equal Employment Opportunity
Commission (EEOC).
NP9. EEOC Laws and Protected Classes
NP10. Protected classes are the groups protected from
employment discrimination by law. 11. These groups include
men and women based on sex; any group which shares a
common race, religion, color, or national origin; people over
40; and people with physical or mental handicaps” 11a. (NARA,
2020, para 36). 12. The designation of a protected class requires
employers to abide by the EEOC Laws. 13. The EEOC Laws
are “five laws which prohibit discrimination based on race,
color, religion, sex, national origin, physical handicap and
mental handicap in any terms, conditions, or privileges of

2. employment” 13a. (NARA, 2020, para 16). 14. The applicable
laws were designed to “correct a history of unfavorable
treatment of women and minority group members” 14a. (NARA,
2020, para 36). 15. Although men and women cannot be
discriminated against based on sex, the protected class of sex
was designed to prevent discrimination of women in the
workplace. 16. The analysis throughout the paper will focus on
this fact, and decide if removing sex as a protected class will
make the workforce more competitive.
NP17. Moral Courage and Moral Imagination
NP18. Looking at removing a protected class will involve
looking at the question from multiple perspectives, this requires
moral imagination. 19. Biasucci, Hernandez, and Prentice, 19a.
(2020, para 1) say, "Moral imagination, according to
philosopher Mark Johnson, means envisioning the full range of
possibilities in a particular situation in order to solve an ethical
challenge." 20. One view is that the workforce is handing out
jobs to women over men, for fear of discriminating accusations.
21. If sex is no longer a protected class, then companies would
be able to select the qualified individual without fear of
reprisal. 22. Another way of looking at the issue is from the
actual definition of protected classes. 23. Sex is a protected
class, meaning that both men and women are technically
protected from discrimination. 24. From this viewpoint,
companies could be accused by both men and women if they
feel they employers actively discriminated against them. 25.
Both sexes could legally hold the company responsible if any
act of discrimination occurs.
NP26. It would be hard to describe an individual who is
trying to take away a protected class designation as someone
courageous. 27. Defending the point of view of a group,
compared to society's ethical norms, could be seen as moral
courage. 28. Osswald, Greitemeyer, Fischer, and Frey, 28a.
(2020, para 1) define moral courage "as brave behavior,
accompanied by anger and indignation, intending to enforce
societal and ethical norms without considering one's social

3. costs." 29. From this perspective, it takes moral courage to
continue acknowledging that not everything is equal.
NP30. Kohlberg’s Moral Development Model
NP31. We will now express the legitimacy of making the
workplace a more competitive environment by removing sex as
a protected class. 32. The Kohlberg’s Moral Development
Model starts “at the lowest or “pre-conventional” level, which
occurs in infancy, individuals are concerned only with the
avoidance of punishment (stage 1) and the pursuit of their own
well-being (stage 2)” 32a. (Boatright & Smith, 2017, figure
2.3). 33. Individuals who may be working on their moral
character have a higher chance of pushing the idea of removing
sex as a protected class. 34. On the flipside stage, one suggests
the avoidance of punishment; there would be an explicit social
punishment to the character for supporting such an idea. 35. “At
the second level of “conventional morality,” children seek to
conform to the expectation of others (stage 3) and understand
the importance of rules and laws in enabling a stable social
order (stage 4)” 35a. (Boatright & Smith, 2017, figure 2.3). 36.
No, as moral development improves, it is easier to see and
understand why specific laws exist, due to past injustices.
NP37. “Only at this level do adults develop the cognitive ability
to understand morality as a social contract that aids cooperation
(stage 5) and to engage in principled ethical reasoning in which
universal moral principles are recognized as the basis of
morality (stage 6)” 37a. (Boatright & Smith, 2017, figure 2.3).
38. The final stages describe an individual who understands the
reasoning and who can also understand why sex is a protected
class. 39. Removing the designation gives way for men to be
discriminated against in the future. 40. The opposite could be
exact, although it is not today, in the future. 41. Sex is a
protected class, meaning all sexes; therefore, it would not make
the workplace a more competitive environment.
NP42. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Model
NP43. Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs Model establishes a
pyramid model about what human beings need, starting at the

4. lowest tier, where the individual cannot go to the next step
without meeting the requirements of the previous steps. 44.
"Maslow's hierarchy of needs is a motivational theory in
psychology comprising a five-tier model of human needs, often
depicted as hierarchical levels within a pyramid" 44a. (McLeod,
2020, para 1). 45. Physiological needs, safety needs, love needs,
esteem needs, self-actualization. 46. If sex was no longer
designated a protected class women could be discriminated
against and be unable to meet safety needs. 47. Safety needs
include employment, and in Maslow's Theory, people cannot
move up the pyramid without meeting the basics of requiring
resources enough to sustain themselves. 48. In this view, the
human being is not receiving outside help; therefore, according
to Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs Model, removing sex as a
protected class prevents some women from being able to reach
self-actualization.
NP49. Dr. Laura’s Three Prerequisites for Assigning Moral
Credit of Culpability
NP50. Assigning moral credit of culpability for removing sex as
a protected class will require the three prerequisites by Dr.
Laura. 51. The first question is, do people have the knowledge
of the moral issue, or should they have known because of their
position? 51a. (Rodriguez-O’Quinn, 2020). 52. Business leaders
have all been through ethical training and are smart enough to
understand why sex is a protected class presumably. 53. It is not
a surprise that the country has a history of unjustifiable acts,
and that is why there are equal opportunity laws.
NP54. The second question presented by Dr. Laura, “Does/did
the actor have the ability to positively and significantly affect
the moral issue?” 54a. (Rodriguez-O’Quinn, 2020). 55. The
people that would debate the issue about equal opportunity will
be able to affect the issue at hand. 56. The last question asked
by Dr. Laura, “Will/would the actor suffer an undeserved –
overly burdensome—loss by acting to correct or prevent the
moral issue?” 56a. (Rodriguez-O’Quinn, 2020). 57. People have
a lot to lose as a whole society. 58. Open discrimination will

5. cause us all to lose years of progress; the law of a protected
class should not be removed.
NP59. Utilitarianism and John Rawls’ Justice Theory
NP 60. According to John Rawls’ Justice Theory, “even if it
were to the advantage of everyone to exclude some groups from
certain positions, such a denial of opportunity could not be
justified because individuals would be deprived of an important
human good, namely, the opportunity for self-development”
60a. (Boatright & Smith, 2017, 7.3, para 8). 61. The justice
theory is similar to meeting Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
Model, where reaching self-actualization is the ability to
achieve at the highest level. 62. Now removing sex as a
protected class would provide an opportunity for discrimination,
which also cannot be justified.
NP63. To determine the morality of removing sex as a protected
class, we will use the four principles of utility,
Consequentialism, Hedonism, Maximalism, and Universalism.
64. "Consequentialism requires that the results or consequences
of an act be measured in some way so that the good and bad
consequences for different individuals can be computed and the
results of different courses of action compared" 64a. (Boatright
& Smith, 2017, 3.1.1). 65. Consequentialism lets people look at
keeping sex as a protected class and removing the designation.
66. Removing the protected class appears to have a worst result
then keeping it. 67. Any door that can lead to discrimination
will never lead to a better result in the long run. 68.
Maximalism is "A right action is one that has not merely some
good consequences but also the greatest amount of good
consequences possible when the bad consequences are also
taken into consideration" 68a. (Boatright & Smith, 2017, 3.1.1).
69. Would the workplace truly be more competitive? 70. No,
because sex is a protected class for all sexes, meaning keeping
it is the best action for the overall good of all human beings in
the job market.
NP71. Looking at Hedonism, "the thesis that pleasure and only
pleasure is ultimately good" 71a. (Boatright & Smith, 2017,

6. 3.1.1) it assumes that people should seek pleasure. 72. It would
be pleasurable to go into a job interview without fear of
discrimination. 73. The pleasure is knowing as an individual
people are protected by law to pursue the job of their choice
without fear of being left out or not chosen based on sex alone.
74. Lastly, Universalism is defined as "The consequences to be
considered are those of everyone. It requires us to consider the
pleasure and pain of everyone alike" 74a. (Boatright & Smith,
2017, 3.1.1). 75. Taking all people into account, would the
action be beneficial to all? 76. For men, it could reopen the
door for more opportunity, but have the possibility of providing
men with an opportunity they are not prepared for since
employers could pick them solely based off of sex. 77. Being
under qualified would result in stress, therefore resulting in
pain. 78. The history of women being unequally treated in the
job market would result in the same pain of allowing employers
to discriminate openly. 79. It is not to say all employers in
modern times would openly discriminate, but opens the door for
the possibility. 80. From these principles, we can see it would
not make the workplace more competitive and better for
everyone overall.
NP81. Intersecting Circle's Corporate Social Responsibility
(CSR) Model
NP82. The last perspective to look at the issue of removing sex
as a protected class is through a well-defined CSR model. 83.
The intersecting circle's corporate social responsibility (CSR)
model a "nonhierarchical set of intersecting responsibilities"
83a. (Geva, 2008, Table 1). It shows businesses' philanthropic,
legal, ethical, and economic practices as interconnecting. 84.
The main issue involves the ethical responsibility of businesses.
85. It would be hard to define a business as ethical that does not
allow for equal opportunity for all prospects. 86. It only takes
one manager to discriminate to show a company as unethical.
87. Legally, companies could pick people based on sex if the
law regarding sex as a protected class is removed. 88. However,
it would result in unethical decisions that could ruin the

7. reputation of the company. 89. Society is looking deeper into
companies and expecting more ethical business practices.
NP90. Conclusion
NP91. This paper has addressed the question regarding
removing sex as a protected class and making the workplace a
more competitive environment. 92. The paper utilized moral
imagination, moral courage, Dr. Laura's Three Prerequisites for
Assigning Moral Credit of Culpability, Utilitarianism, Kantian
Ethics, Intersecting Circle's Corporate Social Responsibility
(CSR) Model, Strict Liability Theory, Kohlberg's Moral
Development Model, Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs Model, and
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). 93.
Through these models, definitions, and theories, it has been
determined that the workplace would not be more competitive,
and overall it results in companies and people being worse off
as a whole. 94. The answer is that it would not make the
workplace a more competitive environment.
NP95. References
NP96. Boatright, J. and Smith, J. D. (2017). Ethics and the
Conduct of Business. (8 ed.). Pearson.
NP97. Biasucci, C., Hernandez, L., & Prentice, R. (2020).
Ethics Unwrapped. McCombs School of Business.
https://ethicsunwrapped.utexas.edu/glossary/moral-imagination.
NP98. Geva, A. (2008). Three Models of Corporate Social
Responsibility: Interrelationships between Theory, Research,
and Practice. Business and Society Review, 113: 1-41.
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1467-
8594.2008.00311.x.
NP99. Osswald, S., Greitemeyer, T., Fischer, P., & Frey, D.
(2010). What is moral courage? Definition, explication, and
classification of a complex construct. In C. L. S. Pury & S. J.
Lopez (Eds.), The psychology of courage: Modern research on
an ancient virtue (p. 149–164). American Psychological
Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/12168-008.
NP100. McLeod, S. (March 20, 2020). Maslow's Hierarchy of

8. Needs. https://www.simplypsychology.org/maslow.html.
NP101. Rodriguez-O’Quinn, L. (2020). BUSB 300 COURSE
SYLLABUS AND IMPORTANT INSTRUCTOR'S NOTES.
https://learn.redlands.edu/mod/forum/view.php?id=509001.
NP102. The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration
(2020). EEO Terminology.
https://www.archives.gov/eeo/terminology.html.
NP103. END OF DOC
NP104. Blaine Smith