UNDUE (undeserved) PROTECTION OF WOMEN IN THE WORKPLACE?

NP1. University of Redlands

NP2. BUSB-300-SD12

NP3. Dr. Laura Rodriguez-O’Quinn

NP4. Sex as a Protected Class

NP5. March 22, 2020

NP7. This paper will analyze the question, would removing the protected class designation on 'sex' make a more robust, more competitive workforce, by equalizing the playing the field for men and women. 8. Addressing the question will involve defining and applying moral imagination, moral courage, Dr. Laura's Three Prerequisites for Assigning Moral Credit of Culpability, Utilitarianism, Kantian Ethics, Intersecting Circle's Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Model, Strict Liability Theory, Kohlberg's Moral Development Model, Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs Model, and Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).

NP9. EEOC Laws and Protected Classes

NP10. Protected classes are the groups protected from employment discrimination by law. 11. These groups include men and women based on sex; any group which shares a common race, religion, color, or national origin; people over 40; and people with physical or mental handicaps” 11a. (NARA, 2020, para 36). 12. The designation of a protected class requires employers to abide by the EEOC Laws. 13. The EEOC Laws are “five laws which prohibit discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, physical handicap and mental handicap in any terms, conditions, or privileges of employment” 13a. (NARA, 2020, para 16). 14. The applicable laws were designed to “correct a history of unfavorable treatment of women and minority group members” 14a. (NARA, 2020, para 36). 15. Although men and women cannot be discriminated against based on sex, the protected class of sex was designed to prevent discrimination of women in the workplace. 16. The analysis throughout the paper will focus on this fact, and decide if removing sex as a protected class will make the workforce more competitive.

NP17. Moral Courage and Moral Imagination

NP18. Looking at removing a protected class will involve looking at the question from multiple perspectives, this requires moral imagination. 19. Biasucci, Hernandez, and Prentice, 19a. (2020, para 1) say, "Moral imagination, according to philosopher Mark Johnson, means envisioning the full range of possibilities in a particular situation in order to solve an ethical challenge." 20. One view is that the workforce is handing out jobs to women over men, for fear of discriminating accusations. 21. If sex is no longer a protected class, then companies would be able to select the qualified individual without fear of reprisal. 22. Another way of looking at the issue is from the actual definition of protected classes. 23. Sex is a protected class, meaning that both men and women are technically protected from discrimination. 24. From this viewpoint, companies could be accused by both men and women if they feel they employers actively discriminated against them. 25. Both sexes could legally hold the company responsible if any act of discrimination occurs.

NP26. It would be hard to describe an individual who is trying to take away a protected class designation as someone courageous. 27. Defending the point of view of a group, compared to society's ethical norms, could be seen as moral courage. 28. Osswald, Greitemeyer, Fischer, and Frey, 28a. (2020, para 1) define moral courage "as brave behavior, accompanied by anger and indignation, intending to enforce societal and ethical norms without considering one's social costs." 29. From this perspective, it takes moral courage to continue acknowledging that not everything is equal.

NP30. Kohlberg’s Moral Development Model

NP31. We will now express the legitimacy of making the workplace a more competitive environment by removing sex as a protected class. 32. The Kohlberg’s Moral Development Model starts “at the lowest or “pre-conventional” level, which occurs in infancy, individuals are concerned only with the avoidance of punishment (stage 1) and the pursuit of their own well-being (stage 2)” 32a. (Boatright & Smith, 2017, figure 2.3). 33. Individuals who may be working on their moral character have a higher chance of pushing the idea of removing sex as a protected class. 34. On the flipside stage, one suggests the avoidance of punishment; there would be an explicit social punishment to the character for supporting such an idea. 35. “At the second level of “conventional morality,” children seek to conform to the expectation of others (stage 3) and understand the importance of rules and laws in enabling a stable social order (stage 4)” 35a. (Boatright & Smith, 2017, figure 2.3). 36. No, as moral development improves, it is easier to see and understand why specific laws exist, due to past injustices.

NP37. “Only at this level do adults develop the cognitive ability to understand morality as a social contract that aids cooperation (stage 5) and to engage in principled ethical reasoning in which universal moral principles are recognized as the basis of morality (stage 6)” 37a. (Boatright & Smith, 2017, figure 2.3). 38. The final stages describe an individual who understands the reasoning and who can also understand why sex is a protected class. 39. Removing the designation gives way for men to be discriminated against in the future. 40. The opposite could be exact, although it is not today, in the future. 41. Sex is a protected class, meaning all sexes; therefore, it would not make the workplace a more competitive environment.

NP42. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Model

NP43. Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs Model establishes a pyramid model about what human beings need, starting at the lowest tier, where the individual cannot go to the next step without meeting the requirements of the previous steps. 44. "Maslow's hierarchy of needs is a motivational theory in psychology comprising a five-tier model of human needs, often depicted as hierarchical levels within a pyramid" 44a. (McLeod, 2020, para 1). 45. Physiological needs, safety needs, love needs, esteem needs, self-actualization. 46. If sex was no longer designated a protected class women could be discriminated against and be unable to meet safety needs. 47. Safety needs include employment, and in Maslow's Theory, people cannot move up the pyramid without meeting the basics of requiring resources enough to sustain themselves. 48. In this view, the human being is not receiving outside help; therefore, according to Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs Model, removing sex as a protected class prevents some women from being able to reach self-actualization.

NP49. Dr. Laura’s Three Prerequisites for Assigning Moral Credit of Culpability

NP50. Assigning moral credit of culpability for removing sex as a protected class will require the three prerequisites by Dr. Laura. 51. The first question is, do people have the knowledge of the moral issue, or should they have known because of their position? 51a. (Rodriguez-O’Quinn, 2020). 52. Business leaders have all been through ethical training and are smart enough to understand why sex is a protected class presumably. 53. It is not a surprise that the country has a history of unjustifiable acts, and that is why there are equal opportunity laws.

NP54. The second question presented by Dr. Laura, “Does/did the actor have the ability to positively and significantly affect the moral issue?” 54a. (Rodriguez-O’Quinn, 2020). 55. The people that would debate the issue about equal opportunity will be able to affect the issue at hand. 56. The last question asked by Dr. Laura, “Will/would the actor suffer an undeserved – overly burdensome—loss by acting to correct or prevent the moral issue?” 56a. (Rodriguez-O’Quinn, 2020). 57. People have a lot to lose as a whole society. 58. Open discrimination will cause us all to lose years of progress; the law of a protected class should not be removed.

NP59. Utilitarianism and John Rawls’ Justice Theory

NP 60. According to John Rawls’ Justice Theory, “even if it were to the advantage of everyone to exclude some groups from certain positions, such a denial of opportunity could not be justified because individuals would be deprived of an important human good, namely, the opportunity for self-development” 60a. (Boatright & Smith, 2017, 7.3, para 8). 61. The justice theory is similar to meeting Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Model, where reaching self-actualization is the ability to achieve at the highest level. 62. Now removing sex as a protected class would provide an opportunity for discrimination, which also cannot be justified.

NP63. To determine the morality of removing sex as a protected class, we will use the four principles of utility, Consequentialism, Hedonism, Maximalism, and Universalism. 64. "Consequentialism requires that the results or consequences of an act be measured in some way so that the good and bad consequences for different individuals can be computed and the results of different courses of action compared" 64a. (Boatright & Smith, 2017, 3.1.1). 65. Consequentialism lets people look at keeping sex as a protected class and removing the designation. 66. Removing the protected class appears to have a worst result then keeping it. 67. Any door that can lead to discrimination will never lead to a better result in the long run. 68. Maximalism is "A right action is one that has not merely some good consequences but also the greatest amount of good consequences possible when the bad consequences are also taken into consideration" 68a. (Boatright & Smith, 2017, 3.1.1). 69. Would the workplace truly be more competitive? 70. No, because sex is a protected class for all sexes, meaning keeping it is the best action for the overall good of all human beings in the job market.

NP71. Looking at Hedonism, "the thesis that pleasure and only pleasure is ultimately good" 71a. (Boatright & Smith, 2017, 3.1.1) it assumes that people should seek pleasure. 72. It would be pleasurable to go into a job interview without fear of discrimination. 73. The pleasure is knowing as an individual people are protected by law to pursue the job of their choice without fear of being left out or not chosen based on sex alone. 74. Lastly, Universalism is defined as "The consequences to be considered are those of everyone. It requires us to consider the pleasure and pain of everyone alike" 74a. (Boatright & Smith, 2017, 3.1.1). 75. Taking all people into account, would the action be beneficial to all? 76. For men, it could reopen the door for more opportunity, but have the possibility of providing men with an opportunity they are not prepared for since employers could pick them solely based off of sex. 77. Being under qualified would result in stress, therefore resulting in pain. 78. The history of women being unequally treated in the job market would result in the same pain of allowing employers to discriminate openly. 79. It is not to say all employers in modern times would openly discriminate, but opens the door for the possibility. 80. From these principles, we can see it would not make the workplace more competitive and better for everyone overall.

NP81. Intersecting Circle's Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Model

NP82. The last perspective to look at the issue of removing sex as a protected class is through a well-defined CSR model. 83. The intersecting circle's corporate social responsibility (CSR) model a "nonhierarchical set of intersecting responsibilities" 83a. (Geva, 2008, Table 1). It shows businesses' philanthropic, legal, ethical, and economic practices as interconnecting. 84. The main issue involves the ethical responsibility of businesses. 85. It would be hard to define a business as ethical that does not allow for equal opportunity for all prospects. 86. It only takes one manager to discriminate to show a company as unethical. 87. Legally, companies could pick people based on sex if the law regarding sex as a protected class is removed. 88. However, it would result in unethical decisions that could ruin the reputation of the company. 89. Society is looking deeper into companies and expecting more ethical business practices.

NP90. Conclusion

NP91. This paper has addressed the question regarding removing sex as a protected class and making the workplace a more competitive environment. 92. The paper utilized moral imagination, moral courage, Dr. Laura's Three Prerequisites for Assigning Moral Credit of Culpability, Utilitarianism, Kantian Ethics, Intersecting Circle's Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Model, Strict Liability Theory, Kohlberg's Moral Development Model, Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs Model, and Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). 93. Through these models, definitions, and theories, it has been determined that the workplace would not be more competitive, and overall it results in companies and people being worse off as a whole. 94. The answer is that it would not make the workplace a more competitive environment.

NP95. References NP96. Boatright, J. and Smith, J. D. (2017). Ethics and the Conduct of Business. (8 ed.). Pearson. NP97. Biasucci, C., Hernandez, L., & Prentice, R. (2020). Ethics Unwrapped. McCombs School of Business. https://ethicsunwrapped.utexas.edu/glossary/moral-imagination. NP98. Geva, A. (2008). Three Models of Corporate Social Responsibility: Interrelationships between Theory, Research, and Practice. Business and Society Review, 113: 1-41. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1467-8594.2008.00311.x. NP99. Osswald, S., Greitemeyer, T., Fischer, P., & Frey, D. (2010). What is moral courage? Definition, explication, and classification of a complex construct. In C. L. S. Pury & S. J. Lopez (Eds.), The psychology of courage: Modern research on an ancient virtue (p. 149–164). American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/12168-008. NP100. McLeod, S. (March 20, 2020). Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. https://www.simplypsychology.org/maslow.html. NP101. Rodriguez-O’Quinn, L. (2020). BUSB 300 COURSE SYLLABUS AND IMPORTANT INSTRUCTOR'S NOTES. https://learn.redlands.edu/mod/forum/view.php?id=509001. NP102. The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (2020). EEO Terminology. https://www.archives.gov/eeo/terminology.html. NP103. END OF DOC NP104. Blaine Smith