Business ethics. Jason Trevor owns a commercial bakery in Blakely, Georgia, that
produces a variety of goods sold in gro- cery stores. Trevor is required by law to perform
internal tests on food produced at his plant to check for contamination. Three times in
2011, the tests of food products that contained peanut butter were positive for
salmonella contamination. Trevor was not required to report the results to U.S. Food
and Drug Administration officials, however, so he did not. Instead, Trevor instructed his
employees to simply repeat the tests until the outcome was negative. Therefore, the
products that had originally tested positive for salmonella were even- tually shipped out
to retailers.
Five people who ate Trevor’s baked goods in 2011 became seriously ill, and one person
died from salmonella. Even though Trevor’s conduct was legal, was it unethical for him
to sell goods that had once tested positive for salmonella? If Trevor had followed the
five-step systematic approach for making ethical business decisions, would he still have
sold the contaminated goods? Why or why not? (See Making Ethical Business
Decisions.)
6–1. defamation. Richard is an employee of the Dun Construc- tion Corp. While
delivering materials to a construction site, he carelessly backs Dun’s truck into a
passenger vehicle driven by Green. This is Richard’s second accident in six months.
When the company owner, Dun, learns of this latest accident, a heated discussion
ensues, and Dun fires Richard. Dun is so angry that he immediately writes a letter to the
union of which Richard is a member and to all other construction companies in the
community, stating that Richard is the “worst driver in the city” and that “anyone who
hires him is asking for legal liability.” Richard files a suit against Dun, alleging libel on
the basis of the statements made in the letters. Discuss the results. (See Intentional
Torts against Persons)