Does Diversity Justify Differences in Ethical Values?
...e same ethical values and they are from different culturally diverse backgrounds, diversity does not justify differences. Governed by the same guiding principles of their ethical values, the groups will be harmonious, thereby able to overcome the diversity. Case in point of the latter, I once had an employee that brought cultural diversity to our work environment, which was predominately African-American. The employee, who we will call Jane, was Caucasian and a divorcé in her mid-30s, who had been co-owner with her husband in a multimillion-dollar business. He had left her penniless with two children. Jane had majored in art while in college before marriage, but because she was not degreed, she lacked enough business or artistic experience to get back into the workforce. As a result, she decided to work with us to gain the experience necessary to re-enter the workforce. She had been a member of the church for more that 2-years and very familiar with the mission of the church, and its goals and objectives. We felt she would be a fine addition to the staff because of her artistic talents and her business experience. Most of the staff gave Jane a warm welcome when she became a member of the staff; however, one particular staff member—who we will call Betty—with whom Jane would share a workspace, did not approve of Jane. Unbeknownst to Jane, Betty made it known, in a verbal and reprehensible way; to other co-workers she did not want to share the workspace with her and she felt management was wrong to hire her. Betty is African-American, widowed, and in her early 60s. She was born and raised in the south and was very bitter towards all Caucasians because she had suffered at the hands of racial discrimination and prejudices most of her life. For months, Betty was successful in not sharing the workspace with Jane because of her volatile personality. The supervisor felt it would be better not to subject Jane to Betty and said it was mostly because of the legal ramifications of racial discrimination and he felt that she would eventually overcome her bias. The ironic thing about this entire situation was this was an all-Christian work environment and cultural diversity should not have been an issue, since the Bible is the guiding principle, for which we base our ethical values. A couple of months had past before it became apparent that Betty was still obstinate in her position against sharing the workspace with Jane, because of her personal bias of which she had no plans of reconciliation. Management realized this issue with her had to be resolved according to the guiding principles of the Bible, which governs our religious beliefs and our code of ethics. First, Betty’s supervisor called a meeting with her, reminding her of her responsibilities as a Christian, a senior staff member, and an employee of a church office. He further pointed out that her conduct was unbecoming of a Christian, which was both unacceptable and unsuitable. Then she was given a week off (without pay) to reconsider her position. Betty re-evaluated her ethical values, admitting she had allowed perso...