Recently the city of Bakersfield had a legal case that created controversy and raised ethical questions about the motives of the parties involved. The case of Tastries Bakery vs. Mireya and Eileen Rodriguez- Del Rios pertained to a bakery owner, Cathy Miller who refused to bake a custom order wedding cake for a same sex couple, the Rodriguez Del Rio’s. This case raised issues and concerns not only within the community of Bakersfield but across the nation in regards to business owners and their constitutional rights to refuse service vs. individual’s rights in regards to being discriminated against due to their sexual orientation. The case began in August of 2017 when Mireya and Eileen Rodriguez-Del Rio chose the Tastries Bakery to design their wedding reception cake. When the Rodriguez-Del Rios met with the bakery owner, Cathy Miller a conservative Christian and the owner of Tastries Bakery, she claimed that is was against her Christian beliefs to bake a wedding cake for the same sex couple. Cathy Miller then referred the same sex couple to a competitor who would be able to accommodate their request.
The Rodriguez-Del Rios’s felt they had …show more content…
The first theory used to analyze this case is the ethical Theory of Deontology. The bases of this theory is that moral acts are either right or wrong on principle, and have a duty to do good no matter the circumstance. The primary focus with this theory is to direct attention to the duties that exist prior to the situation and determines obligations. The theories definition of ethical conduct is, always doing the right thing and never failing to do one’s duty. The questions to ask if using this framework would be; what are my obligations in this situation and what are the things I should never do. Utilizing this framework and these questions we now apply the case