Case Study B

Mailroom Dilemma

To make some extra money during college, I got a part-time job in a mailroom at a rather large business. This business would send out hundreds of pieces of mail each day, all going through the mailroom. Our job as the staff of the mailroom was to package this mail to be shipped, put the proper amount of postage on it, and then take it to the post office. To put the postage on the items, we used a postage meter that was in the mailroom. The postage meter would weigh the mail and then stamp it with the correct amount of postage, and my employers would pay the postage costs in lump sums periodically throughout the year.

Occasionally my boss would run some of his personal mail along with the business mail. When I asked him if sending personal mail through the meter was basically stealing money from the company, he justified it by saying that he only used the meter to mail his bills, and he would never use it for anything over 60 cents. He also said that he had been working there for 13 years, and he compensated for his low pay by being able to send out the occasional bill or letter. I figured that a few cents here and there would not hurt the company and looked the other way.

Questions:

1. From your opinion, what is and what ought to be in this case? (10 marks)

2. From your opinion, which ethical principles are at stake in this situation? Rights? Justice? Ethics of Care? Others? Explain the ethical principle. (20 marks)

3. If you are the person facing this ethical dilemma, what is the right thing to do? (10 marks)