Incident of Morales video - Essay Example

However, the question remains: who is the one responsible for the death of Manuel Ortega? First issue questionable in the video was the hiring of the engineer Fred Martinez. He was a consultant of the competing company such that he is knowledgeable of confidential information about ChemiToil. Although it has been clarified that Fred did not sign any legal papers that restricts him from sharing secrets from ChemiToil, there is a difference between doing something illegal with doing something unethical.

If Engineer Martinez revealed classified information to Phaust, he would have disobeyed the rule of practice stating that “Engineers shall not reveal facts, data, or information without the prior consent of the client or employer except as authorized or required by law or this Code (NSPE, 2007)” even if he is no longer en employee of ChemiToil. The fact, however, that Phaust has to formulate their own recipe for paint remover suggests that Fred did not disclose sensitive information from his former clients.

It was also clarified that Fred designed the plant based on the preliminary documents from Chuck and Wally; not from the design of ChemiToil. These imply that the engineer did not do anything unethical regarding this issue of confidentiality. The next debatable issue came when 20 percent of the budget was cut off. The stress brought about by this event evidently caused the decisions that later lead to the death of their colleague. Fred did his job by clarifying to his bosses that there is a possibility for the project to be unsuccessful.

However, it is also stated under the Code of Ethics that “If the client or employer insists on such unprofessional conduct, (the engineer) shall notify the proper authorities and withdraw from further service on the project (NSPE, 2007)”. Fred should not have let his boss Wally oppress him into following orders instead of making sure proper measures were implemented for the safety on the plant. The most alarming part of the whole video was when Wally talked to Fred about how everything is just about business and profit.

He insisted that they should blindly follow orders from higher bosses. This part showed that the money restrictions were not only due to economic reasons but for personal gain. Wally risked the quality of the construction just to make sure that the employees get their bonuses. It was very subjective and selfish. Fred was also wrong to accept this reason. It is his responsibility to put the safety of everyone before personal gain. He should have reasoned out with Wally about this. They should not have kept this reason from the others.

Everybody else was under the impression that there was no other choice except to cut expenses. It was one of the key scenes when the Mexican Official asked Fred what he thinks if the point in which the mistake was made. It made the audience start to wonder and be aware of the turn of events. It was when the Mexican official asked if economic issues dominated the decision making of the project that Fred made a very unethical gesture. In this part, Fred denied being influenced by economic factors.

It has been clear all through out the story that the restrictions were due to finances. It was clear that the characters understood perfectly the risks they are taking just because of money constraints. It is very much established in the Code of Ethics that engineers should be guided by the highest standards