Sarah Russell grew up in a small town in the flatlands of western Kansas where she was born.1 In high school, she was homecoming queen, valedictorian of her graduating class, point guard on her basketball team for two years, and a candy striper (volunteer) at the local hospital. Since her parents had attended the University of Kansas, Sarah was off to Lawrence at age 18.
After spending her freshman year posting straight A's in 30 hours of college courses, Sarah settled on accounting as her major after seriously considering journalism, prelaw, and finance. Although Sarah had yet to take any courses in accounting, she had been impressed by a presentation that a female partner of a large accounting firm had made at a career fair. Sarah was excited by the challenges and opportunities presented by public accounting, as described by the partner. Here was a field in which she could learn a great deal in a short period of time and advance rapidly to a position where she had important responsibilities. Plus, public accounting provided a wide range of career paths. If she really enjoyed public accounting, she could pursue a partnership position with a large accounting firm. Then again, she might "hang out her shingle" in her hometown, see the world on the internal audit staff of a large corporation, or return to college after a couple of years of real-world experience to earn an MBA.
Sarah completed the tough accounting courses at the University of Kansas with only two small blemishes on her transcript-B's in individual and corporate taxation.
During the fall semester of her senior year, Sarah accepted a position as a staff accountant with a Big Four accounting firm. Sarah considered staying in her home state but decided instead to request an assignment in her new employer's Chicago office. She believed that exposure to big-city life would allow her to arrive at a more informed decision when it was time to make a long-term commitment to a career path and a lifestyle.
During her first year on the job, Sarah served on six audit engagements. Her clients included a pipeline company, a religious foundation, and a professional sports team.
She worked hard on those assignments and earned impressive performance appraisals from each of her immediate supervisors. Somehow Sarah also squeezed a CPA review course into her hectic schedule that first year. And she was glad she did. She was among the few rookies in her large office to pass each section of the CPA exam on her first attempt. With that barrier out of the way, Sarah focused her energy on being promoted to audit senior as quickly as possible.
Several individuals provided Sarah with much-needed moral support during her first year, including R. J. Bell, an audit partner. Bell was 40 years old and had been a partner for eight years. According to the office grapevine, he was in line to become the new office managing partner within the next year or so. Bell tried to get to know the new staff accountants assigned to the audit staff and to help them adjust to their jobs in any way he could. Several times during the year, Bell invited small groups of staff accountants to his home to have dinner with him and his family.
Recognizing that Sarah was new to Chicago, he made a special effort to include her in such social gatherings and to give her complimentary tickets to cultural and sporting events. When Sarah's old car from college died, Bell arranged for her to obtain a loan from a local bank. Sarah appreciated Bell's help and guidance. She considered the firm to be very lucky to have an audit partner so supportive of staff accountants.

Questions
1. In your opinion, how should Sarah have handled this matter? Identify the factors that Sarah should have considered in dealing with the situation. Also, identify the professional and personal responsibilities of Sarah, R. J. Bell, and other relevant individuals in this matter.
2. What were the costs and potential costs to Sarah’s employer in this case? How should accounting firms attempt to prevent these types of situations from occurring? Assume that rather than speaking to Bell, Sarah had told the office managing partner about the problem she faced. How should the office managing partner have dealt with the matter?
3. This case took place several years ago. Do you believe that events similar to those that took place in this case could occur now?