Workplace Ethics: Unprofessional Conduct

Business 309- Business Ethics
August 22, 2015.Workplace Ethics: Unprofessional Conduct
The workplace should be an environment of professionalism and policies of employees work behavior should be set into place. Unprofessional conduct can interfere with other employees of the workplace and cause the organization that one is working for to be looked at as unprofessional. Any behavior or conduct that isn’t looked at as acceptable to the company’s policy on work behavior can in term be considered unprofessional. Therefore, all employees should be made aware of the company’s policy on professional conduct so that they wouldn’t engage in activities that can cause harm to the professionalism of any organization.
According to the case study Ms. Pruitt is an elementary teacher for mentally challenged children was considered not fit to teach. In our text it states that Ms. Pruitt worked with mentally challenged children for a total of thirteen years. During that time frame she had nothing but positive feedback from the school principle and was often acknowledge as a reliable teacher. I do feel that the Board of Education did violate Ms. Pruitt’s rights to privacy and didn’t have any valid reason to fire her. An undercover police officer decided to show up to the “swingers” party and decided to charge Ms. Pruitt with oral copulation. Ms. Pruitt then paid her fine and was reinstated to teach. However, two years later the Board of Education decided that her behavior was immoral and that she shouldn’t teach around students. My argument is if that was the case why the Board of Education didn’t keep her teaching license, why wait until two years later to take action. It seems to me that the Board of Education are the ones being immoral.
I feel that Ms. Pruitt’s lifestyle is private matter and that her sexual orientation had nothing to do with her teaching abilities. I do not feel that her behavior was immoral or unprofessional. As stated in the text Ms. Pruitt was a great teacher to her students and in no way indulged in unprofessional behavior around her students. Ms. Pruitt also didn’t discuss her non-conventional lifestyle to her students in any way or displayed her sexual encounter. As stated in the case study, Tobringer stated that 75 to 85 percent of women of the same caliber as Ms. Pruitt indulge in oral copulation. If the undercover police officer wasn’t at the party no one would have known about Ms. Pruitt’s lifestyle. Therefore, I feel that there isn’t any clear evidence to specify that she should have been considered as unfit to teach students.
I feel that teachers should uphold a good moral standard of conduct. However, I also feel that one must remember that teachers do have private lives. I do feel that a teacher’s behavior shouldn’t be out in the open for other to view about their private lives. One must realize that they are still working for a profession, and one’s behavior could justify their job. However, Ms. Pruitt was very discreet with her sexual life. Therefore, she shouldn’t be punished because someone decided to send an undercover cop to view what she was doing during her private time. Ms. Pruitt could have been practicing this sexual lifestyle for years within her marriage and teaching profession.
Since the Board of Education decided to fire her about her sexual life, I feel that Ms. Pruitt has ample reasons to sue for lack of evidence and privacy. I feel that a person’s sexual life and work life are considered as two different matters unless a person decides to bring their private life into the workplace. I feel that the Board of Education were wrong for firing Ms. Pruitt especially after two years.
There are various behaviors that can be considered as immoral or unprofessional conduct for a teacher. One behavior is passing of students to the next grade when they aren’t prepared. This behavior can cause harm to student and cause them to fail the next grade because they aren’t prepared. Secondly, another behavior is if a teacher have sexual relations with students. This is definitely unprofessional and can cause an unprofessional and hostile environment for everyone. Another behavior is failure to comply with the rules and regulations of the Board of Education. Every organization have standards of what is expected to be followed by employers to remain professional. Another behavior that is considered immoral is the use of alcohol and drugs. The Teacher Tenure act specifies that a teacher may be dismissed or demoted for “habitual or excessive use of alcohol or non-medical substances. (Stated in Article 5 of Chapter 90 of the General Statues”. Chapter 80, Article 5 if the General Statues is the controlled substance act, that list more than 200 drugs that may not be legally possessed).
Overall, I feel that Ms. Pruitt should fight for her rights. I feel that she was wrongly fired by the Board of Education. I feel that there wasn’t valid evidence against her for them to do so. I feel that what Ms. Pruitt did in her private life was her business and had nothing to do with her work profession. As long as Ms. Pruitt kept her sexual life discreet and didn’t bring her private life to work, then I feel that this shouldn’t have been an issue. Also, I feel that it was wrong of the undercover cop to show up just to find a reason to arrest her. This is a violation of Ms. Pruitt’s privacy and private life and she has valid reasons to sue the Board of Education.

References
Shaw, W. (2013) Business Ethics: A Textbook with Cases, 8e, Eighth edition. Boston, MA: Cengage Learning
Grounds for Dismissal under the Teacher Tenure Act http://sogpubs.unc.edu/electronicversions/pdfs/leps19.pdf

Workplace Ethics: Unprofessional Conduct
The workplace should be an environment of professionalism and policies of employees work behavior should be set into place. Unprofessional conduct can interfere with other employees of the workplace and cause the organization that one is working for to be looked at as unprofessional. Any behavior or conduct that isn’t looked at as acceptable to the company’s policy on work behavior can in term be considered unprofessional. Therefore, all employees should be made aware of the company’s policy on professional conduct so that they wouldn’t engage in activities that can cause harm to the professionalism of any organization.
According to the case study Ms. Pruitt is an elementary teacher for mentally challenged children was considered not fit to teach. In our text it states that Ms. Pruitt worked with mentally challenged children for a total of thirteen years. During that time frame she had nothing but positive feedback from the school principle and was often acknowledge as a reliable teacher. I do feel that the Board of Education did violate Ms. Pruitt’s rights to privacy and didn’t have any valid reason to fire her. An undercover police officer decided to show up to the “swingers” party and decided to charge Ms. Pruitt with oral copulation. Ms. Pruitt then paid her fine and was reinstated to teach. However, two years later the Board of Education decided that her behavior was immoral and that she shouldn’t teach around students. My argument is if that was the case why the Board of Education didn’t keep her teaching license, why wait until two years later to take action. It seems to me that the Board of Education are the ones being immoral.
I feel that Ms. Pruitt’s lifestyle is private matter and that her sexual orientation had nothing to do with her teaching abilities. I do not feel that her behavior was immoral or unprofessional. As stated in the text Ms. Pruitt was a great teacher to her students and in no way indulged in unprofessional behavior around her students. Ms. Pruitt also didn’t discuss her non-conventional lifestyle to her students in any way or displayed her sexual encounter. As stated in the case study, Tobringer stated that 75 to 85 percent of women of the same caliber as Ms. Pruitt indulge in oral copulation. If the undercover police officer wasn’t at the party no one would have known about Ms. Pruitt’s lifestyle. Therefore, I feel that there isn’t any clear evidence to specify that she should have been considered as unfit to teach students.
I feel that teachers should uphold a good moral standard of conduct. However, I also feel that one must remember that teachers do have private lives. I do feel that a teacher’s behavior shouldn’t be out in the open for other to view about their private lives. One must realize that they are still working for a profession, and one’s behavior could justify their job. However, Ms. Pruitt was very discreet with her sexual life. Therefore, she shouldn’t be punished because someone decided to send an undercover cop to view what she was doing during her private time. Ms. Pruitt could have been practicing this sexual lifestyle for years within her marriage and teaching profession.
Since the Board of Education decided to fire her about her sexual life, I feel that Ms. Pruitt has ample reasons to sue for lack of evidence and privacy. I feel that a person’s sexual life and work life are considered as two different matters unless a person decides to bring their private life into the workplace. I feel that the Board of Education were wrong for firing Ms. Pruitt especially after two years.
There are various behaviors that can be considered as immoral or unprofessional conduct for a teacher. One behavior is passing of students to the next grade when they aren’t prepared. This behavior can cause harm to student and cause them to fail the next grade because they aren’t prepared. Secondly, another behavior is if a teacher have sexual relations with students. This is definitely unprofessional and can cause an unprofessional and hostile environment for everyone. Another behavior is failure to comply with the rules and regulations of the Board of Education. Every organization have standards of what is expected to be followed by employers to remain professional. Another behavior that is considered immoral is the use of alcohol and drugs. The Teacher Tenure act specifies that a teacher may be dismissed or demoted for “habitual or excessive use of alcohol or non-medical substances. (Stated in Article 5 of Chapter 90 of the General Statues”. Chapter 80, Article 5 if the General Statues is the controlled substance act, that list more than 200 drugs that may not be legally possessed).
Overall, I feel that Ms. Pruitt should fight for her rights. I feel that she was wrongly fired by the Board of Education. I feel that there wasn’t valid evidence against her for them to do so. I feel that what Ms. Pruitt did in her private life was her business and had nothing to do with her work profession. As long as Ms. Pruitt kept her sexual life discreet and didn’t bring her private life to work, then I feel that this shouldn’t have been an issue. Also, I feel that it was wrong of the undercover cop to show up just to find a reason to arrest her. This is a violation of Ms. Pruitt’s privacy and private life and she has valid reasons to sue the Board of Education.

References
Shaw, W. (2013) Business Ethics: A Textbook with Cases, 8e, Eighth edition. Boston, MA: Cengage Learning
Grounds for Dismissal under the Teacher Tenure Act http://sogpubs.unc.edu/electronicversions/pdfs/leps19.pdf