Chapter Problem:

You are one of several assistant managers in the human resources department. You handle confidential situations involving everything from interviewing and hiring individuals, through training, as well as termination and lay off of company employees. Your best friend in the organization is Tom Swift, who is an accountant with the company. You and Tom went through high school together, and it was Tom's recommendation and persistence that got you the job with this company. You and your spouse do many social activities with Tom and his wife and your children and their children are in the same grade at the local school. Tom is extremely frustrated with the fact that he cannot seem to get a promotion for a management position in the accounting office. Tom told you, in confidence, that this frustration has caused him to apply fora management level accounting position at a large distribution center located about 40 minutes west of town. Of course, you agree to keep this information confidential.

Thursday morning Tom comes into your office and shuts the door, telling you he has been offered the accounting position at the distribution center. On the plus side, he says, there is increased responsibility and a significant increase in salary. On the minus side, he will have to learn a completely different accounting system and give up his seniority that he has established at your company. You discuss his options with him and he tells you that he has until 6 P.M. on Monday to make his final decision. At the end of the discussion, Tom indicates that he will probably stay with your company, as job security with his seniority is a big factor. Later in the day, your supervisor tells you in strict confidence that on Wednesday of next week your company will be announcing a significant "downsizing," which will cost several dozen employees their jobs. He gives you a list of the employees and tells you to prepare termination notices to be handed out after the announcement on Wednesday. Looking through the list you notice Tom Swift's name as a terminated employee. Would you tell Tom? If you do, it give shim an opportunity to take the job with the distribution company. However, Tom is a little "hotheaded" and has had a running feud with the manager of the accounting department. You are concerned that once Tom learns that he is to be terminated, he may erupt and get confrontational with his supervisor about the company's justification for his termination. This, of course, may cost you your job because of the breach of your professional duty to maintain strict confidence on employee matters.

What would you do and why?