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An ethical breach occurs when someone within a system or community makes an
ethical choice that sets a standard by which others can make a similar decision.
The danger of ethical breaches is that they are a fundamental change in the
ethics of your organization. When an ethical breach occurs, you must move
quickly to repair the damage to your organization and then analyze the nature of
the breach; determine whether the breach was unethical and whether it should
incite a change in your rules or lead to a severe punishment for the person who
initiated the breach.

Define the nature of the ethical breach and include all of the specific elements of
the breach. Remain objective and look at the situation in its entirety. List all the
elements that you discover. For instance, if one of your employees acted
inappropriately with a female employee in his department, you should list the
difference in their work status, the way he approached her, her response and the
conditions where the event occurred.

Evaluate the nature of the infraction, including each element that you listed.
Determine which specific ethical standard your offender failed to uphold during
the event. As an example, your employee violated your ethical standards against
sexual harassment and interoffice dating. List these specific infractions.

Ask yourself if the infraction should become a universally allowed action under
the circumstances that the individual committed the action. Remind yourself that
an ethical breach in an organization allows for future, similar ethical breaches if
you take no action to correct the behavior. Ask yourself if you would want to work
in an environment where co-workers were permitted to repeat your employees
actions.

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List the potential downfalls of allowing the breach to become an ethical standard,
such as future damages from repeated breaches. Determine whether those
downfalls are worth allowing that activity to continue. For example, you realize
that the potential ramifications of repeated inappropriate activity could lead to
lawsuits, lost employees and a future inability to draw quality employees to your
company.

Act on your decision to either reinforce your ethical standard or allow the action
as a new ethical standard. If a punishment already exists for the infraction, carry
out the punishment and repair the breach or devise a new punishment if one
does not already exist. If you decide that the new action should be permitted,
establish your new rule as a universal ethical standard for your organization. For
instance, deciding to terminate the offending employee, demonstrating that
similar breaches in your ethical standard will not be acceptable.
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