The Analysis of the CFS - Essay Example

Cindy was also given the special task of preparing an accident report of the firm’s operations for the previous year. The report is supposed to be sent to the president of the university, the human resource department, and state and OSHA agencies. Upon her analysis of the operation, Cindy discovered a disturbing trend. The CFS appears to have a serious safety issue because the number of accidents is 20% higher than in similar size operations in the food industry. Her boss, Jake, told her to minimize the severity of the accident report because CFS could not afford the report to show inflated accident statistics. Jake also hinted to Cindy that her grade and favourable job recommendation rest on how she handled the accident report. She found 46 cases of accidents and also noticed that some accidents had gone unreported. 

The first option is not a good alternative because as a professional Cindy has to comply with high ethical standards. Cindy is facing an ethical dilemma. “Ethical dilemmas, also known as moral dilemmas, are situations in which there are two choices to be made, neither of which resolves the situation in an ethically acceptable fashion” (Yourdictionary, 2012). It would be unethical, dangerous, and illegal for her to omit the truth from the authorities. The second and third options are good and ethical alternatives, but these options put her career at risk because Jake threatened Cindy that he would give her a bad grade and a bad recommendation if she told the truth. The option of calling the press and leaking the story would make her a whistleblower. A whistleblower can be defined as a person who reveals any wrongdoings or malpractices that are taking place within an organization (Bainbridge, 2007). I do not think that this is the best course of action because it would bring a lot of negative attention to the university. The best option for Cindy which ensures she complies with her ethical obligations, while at the same time protecting her from Jake is by giving a complete report to Jake’s supervisor and telling him about Jake’s pressure to falsify the report by omitting accidents that happened.