KFL@MC.LCS.MIT.EDU ("Keith F. Lynch") (03/15/86)
From: ulysses!burl!clyde!watmath!utzoo!henry@ucbvax.berkeley.edu
(Henry Spencer)
If management overrules you on something important, and you know damn well
that you know the score and they don't, how can you ethically stay with
that management? Why were there no quiet resignations at M-T?
I don't think this a fair or reasonable attitude. It is ethical to
work for a company or a client whether or not one agrees with the
position of the company or the client. For instance the company I
work for does a lot of SDI ("Star Wars") research. Most of the senior
scientists and engineers I have talked to about it believe that SDI is
not feasible. But they feel that refusing to use one's talents as
best one can on this project is usurping the authority of the elected
officials. They decide what is to be done. We do it if it is humanly
do-able. If we didn't do it, someone else would. Probably someone
who wouldn't be able to do it as well as we would.
Disclaimer: Nothing in this message should be interpreted as an
opinion about the feasability of SDI. Any opinions expressed are mine
alone and not necessarily those of my employer or its clients.
...KeithKFL@MC.LCS.MIT.EDU ("Keith F. Lynch") (03/17/86)
You misunderstand my position. I do not think it is ethical to do anything illegal or immoral. But the SRB engineers were not asked to. There is an enormous difference between being asked to build a concentration camp and disgreeing with one's manager on the safety of something. I don't think, in general, that it is reasonable for an employee of any company to tell the news media that the company's product is unsafe. Not only is he likely to be fired, he is apt to be sued for libel. And rightly so. Unless he has good evidence that his employer is engaged in a criminal conspiracy. I don't think there is any evidence that M-T was. It appears that they are guilty only of poor judgement. ...Keith
rjnoe@riccb.UUCP (Roger J. Noe) (03/19/86)
> I don't think, in general, that it is reasonable for an employee of > any company to tell the news media that the company's product is > unsafe. Not only is he likely to be fired, he is apt to be sued for > libel. And rightly so. Unless he has good evidence that his employer > is engaged in a criminal conspiracy. > ...Keith Suppose there's a chemical engineer out there somewhere who works for a major pharmaceutical company. Suppose the engineer knows that the company is allowing amounts of certain harmful substances into one of its products in excess of what the FDA has identified as "safe". Suppose this is a product taken daily by thousands of people, maybe even you. If you knew of these things, would you want the engineer to tell anyone? If not the FDA, what's wrong with media? Sure, he could be fired and sued by his employer for slander. But they'd lose the suit because the engineer (1) acted without malice toward anyone, since he was concerned for the public safety, (2) he acted believing that his knowledge was correct, and (3) he did not display a reckless disregard for the truth. The employer would need to show that these three items were opposite than what I have described to win a slander suit. And it is very likely they would lose heavily in court if they fired him for speaking out. Not only is that violating freedom of speech principles, but it would be an unlawful termination of an employment contract. Employers are losing these termination-at-will suits all over, and losing BIG. If they don't have a very good reason to back up their decision, they could end up in VERY hot water. And they'd take a real beating in the public image department, too. If the engineer first makes his concerns known to his management and he is reassured by managers and executives (who are not experts like he is) that they know of the situation and "It's all OK, don't worry about it" then there IS a conspiracy to withhold the information. Whether or not the conspiracy is criminal or not depends on whether or not the act they're keeping secret is criminal. But an act doesn't have to be criminal to be unethical. It doesn't even have to be illegal to be unethical. Any lawyer will tell you that law and ethics have almost nothing to do with each other. :-) -- Roger Noe ihnp4!riccb!rjnoe
spock@iham1.UUCP (Ed Weiss) (03/19/86)
In article <649@riccb.UUCP>, rjnoe@riccb.UUCP (Roger J. Noe) writes: ... > doesn't even have to be illegal to be unethical. Any lawyer will tell you > that law and ethics have almost nothing to do with each other. :-) > -- > Roger Noe ihnp4!riccb!rjnoe I don't see the need for the :-). -- Ed Weiss ihnp4!iham1!spock "Don't hurry, don't worry. You're only here for a short visit. So be sure to stop and smell the flowers." - Walter C. Hagen