With her heavy-equipment operator certification in hand, Fiona is a new hire on a construction crew; the only woman in a family-owned organization aside from the HR manager, the sister of the company president and vice-president. Soon after her hire, the president of the company began a pattern of sexually targeting Fiona. She went to great lengths to avoid her boss, but the harassment and assaults continued. After one incident, Fiona reported the abuse to the company VP who offered her (...) a financial settlement in exchange for her silence. Fiona thought speaking out would put an end to the strain the abuse had caused, but other dilemmas had just begun. The case allows students to examine the competing interests Fiona faces in deciding whether to accept a financial settlement from her employer, that would greatly help her family, but at the cost of signing a non-disclosure agreement. (shrink)

In its 2018 global study on occupational fraud, the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners found asset misappropriation the most common category of fraud with expense reimbursement schemes the most frequent and costly form of misappropriation. In this case, Cassandra, a valued junior attorney on track to become a partner at her law firm, is strongly encouraged by a supportive senior attorney to join him in ordering an after-hours meal in clear violation of the firm's meal expensing policy. While Cassandra recognizes (...) that taking such action would be wrong, she is unclear what to do next. Sometimes the desire to do the right thing is fraught with complexities about the right thing to do. The purpose of the case is for students to examine the competing interests Cassandra faces in relation to the responsibilities she owes to her employer, colleagues, clients, profession, and herself. (shrink)

Drug use in the workplace can pose legal and ethical challenges for employers and their employees. In this case, Fred is a long-term employee of the James Bay Logging Company who recently returned to the workplace after extensive cancer treatment. Back on the job, he experienced debilitating joint pain, a side effect of his treatments. Fred’s decision to self-medicate with marijuana for pain management poses risks for people and property in his position as a logging truck operator and a moral (...) dilemma for his employer with their zero-tolerance drug policy. The purpose of this case is for students to examine the competing interests a company faces in trying to fairly enforce their drug policy in the context of medical marijuana in the workplace and showing care and compassion to a long-term employee who violated this policy. (shrink)

Initiatives to encourage more women in STEM-related industries have had mixed results. Adding more women to longstanding male-dominated STEM occupations has highlighted issues in workplace culture that are hostile to women. In this case, the CEO of an engineers' professional association, NSE, is accused of making a sexually suggestive remark to two female engineers at the annual convention. One of the women, Claire, lodged a complaint with the board. After reviewing the investigation report, the board voted to ask the CEO (...) to quietly apologize to both women. Claire, in the meantime, posted a negative review of the NSE's handling of her complaint which is getting considerable media attention. The purpose of this case is for students to examine the competing interests NSE faces in promoting the safety of female members, protecting its reputation for advancing the profession and women in engineering and supporting an otherwise “brilliant CEO”. (shrink)

The emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic created considerable challenges for the food supply chain. One of the industries hardest hit was the agricultural and agri-foods industry. This industry has long faced worker shortages and regularly relied on temporary foreign workers. In this case, Roosters, a chicken processing and production company in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, had just come off a very costly 12-day closure following a COVID-19 exposure risk in two of its processing plants. With the company back in operation (...) a new safety policy has been implemented to limit future virus exposure and shutdown risks. The policy, however, targets a small group of temporary foreign workers, one of whom is challenging the lengths the company can go in the name of protecting employees from the virus and the company from losses due to closure. (shrink)