Ethical Analysis of Office Romance and Sexual Favoritism Policies in the #MeToo Workplace and “Cancel Culture” Era

Bahaudin G Mujtaba,Frank J Cavico

doi:10.21272/sec.4(4).132-150.2020

Abstract

While most employers, managers, and employees have heard and read much about the #MeToo movement, little academic attention has been devoted to ethical analysis of office romance and sexual favoritism polices in the modern workplace. Everyone is likely to agree that romantic relationships will continue in the workplace regardless of organizational policies; nevertheless appropriate, policies should be in place to protect against any adverse legal consequences stemming from romantic relationships in the workplace; and these policies also should be promulgated and enforced in such a manner that all workplace policies and actions can be considered moral and ethical. Accordingly, in this article, we provide a thorough ethical analysis of office romance and sexual favoritism in the sensitive era of the #MeToo movement as well as the “canceled culture” era. We offer specific recommendations to management and human resources professionals on how to provide a safe and healthy work environment for all employees, how to avoid liability for sexual harassment cases as they relate to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, as well as how to ensure that the workplace is fair and just for all. We conclude that every company’s management and human resources departments should take full responsibility for ensuring that business decisions, especially those affecting the employees, are aligned with legal, moral, and, of course, ethical norms. First and foremost, appropriate policies, programs, procedures, and training are necessary to combat sexual discrimination and harassment and thus to ensure a fair, just, and functional workplace. We believe that prevention is the best means of proactively eliminating sexual harassment in the workplace. Each firm should include a clear and strong policy statement against sexual harassment and discrimination in their code of conduct expectations. The policy should have direct statement of the intolerance and prohibition of any form of sexual harassment and illegal discrimination. Each firms should also have an effective policy distribution, communication to employees and enforcement plan. Finally, retaliation must be avoided. As such, there should be assurances that complaining employees will be protected from harassment or retaliation. Keywords: office romance, love contracts, sexual favoritism, #MeToo movement, ethical egoism, ethical relativism, utilitarianism, Kantian ethics.

Highlights

In the modern sensitive era of the #MeToo movement, a “canceled culture” refers to a form of shunning or public exclusion in which someone is pushed out of cliques, as well as social and/or professional circles, through asynchronous online publications on social media, in the day-to-day workplace, or both
While it is necessary to have some type of a relevant policy in place regarding romantic relationships at work, it would be even better to make sure that all employees are familiar with the policy and can abide by them without fearing retaliation
Sexual behavior in the workplace has brought the onset of the #MeToo movement which has imparted a greater awareness of improper sexual conduct in the workplace as well as empowered victims as well as other employees to disclose such wrongdoing

Summary

Introduction

In the modern sensitive era of the #MeToo movement, a “canceled culture” refers to a form of shunning or public exclusion in which someone is pushed out of cliques, as well as social and/or professional circles, through asynchronous online publications on social media, in the day-to-day workplace, or both. Many of the high-profile sexual cases that generated the #MeToo movement involved high level and powerful male executives asserting that their romantic relationships with subordinate females in the workplace were “merely” consensual office romance and sexual favoritism. Because of the #MeToo movement and “canceled culture,” employers have been obligated to create proper policies on how to proactively and reactively respond to sexual discrimination, sexual harassment, office romance, and sexual favoritism in the modern workplace. Based on the ethical analysis, the authors make recommendations for management, first, generally, to avoid lawsuits for sexual harassment and discrimination and to curtail sexual favoritism, and regarding appropriate office romance policies and procedures. The goal is to create a workplace that is safe, healthy, fair, ethical, and just for all employees

Literature review

Findings

Summary