Jane discovered that
John was telling fellow workers that she is a lesbian. Although Jane is open
about her sexual orientation, she thinks it is inappropriate for John to share
personal information about her with co-workers. When Jane approached John and
asked him to stop saying that she is a lesbian because it is professionally
inappropriate, he replied “Why shouldn’t tell people? Everyone knows, and
you’re out anyway.” Felling disappointed and angry, Jane made an appointment to
speak to her field supervisor and described what happened and complained about
John’s behavior. Jane’s field supervisor responded that she was sorry this had
happened, but there was nothing she could do about it because John is the
relative of a very powerful board member and she is afraid that reprimanding
John will cause problems for her. Given the current economic situation, the
field supervisor is afraid that she could lose her job and not able to find
another one. Is the field supervisor’s response ethical? To whom does the
supervisor owe loyalty? How would you respond in Jane’s position? How would you
respond in the field supervisor’s position? Taken from Ethical Decisions for S.
W. Practice – Dolgoff, H., Harrington, D. and Loewenberg, F. (2012)
