Human Behavior in Organization San Sebastian College Recoletos

de Cavite

San
MR. ZARNY ZARAGOZA, CPM, MBA College of Business and
Accountancy

CASE STUDY 1

Are Workplace Romances Unethical?

A large percentage of married individuals first met in the workplace. A 2005 survey revealed that
58 percent of all employees have been in an office romance. Given the amount of time people spend at
work, this isn’t terribly surprising. Yet office romances pose sensitive ethical issues for organizations and
employees. What rights and responsibilities do organizations have to regulate the romantic lives of their
employees?

Take the case of former General Electric CEO Jack Welch and Suzy Wetlaufer. The two met while
Wetlaufer was interviewing Welch for Harvard Business Review article, and Welch was still married. Once
their relationship was out in the open, some accused Wetlaufer of being unethical for refusing to
disclose the relationship while working on the article. She eventually left the journal. Other accused
Welch of letting his personal life get in the way of the interest of GE and its shareholders. Some even
blamed the scandal for a drop in GE stock.

Welch and Wetlaufer didn’t even work for the same company. What about when two people
work together in the same work unit? Chicago advertising firm, started dating Kevin, one of her account
supervisors. Their innocent banter turned into going out for drinks, and then dinner, and soon they were
dating. Kevin and Tasha’s bosses were in house competitors. The problem: Sometimes in meetings Kevin
would make it seem that Tasha and Kevin were on the same side of important issues even when they
weren’t. In response, Tasha’s boss began to isolate her from key projects. Tasha said, “I remember times
when I would be there all night photocopying hundreds of pages of my work to show it (Kevin’s)
allegations (of her incompetence) were unfounded. It was just embarrassing because it became a
question of my professional judgment.”

These examples show that while workplace romances are personal matters, it’s hard to keep
them out of the political complexities of organizational life.

1. Do you think organizations should have policies governing workplace romances? What would
such policies stipulate?
2. Do you think romantic relationships would distract two employees from performing their jobs?
Why or why not?
3. Is it ever appropriate for a supervisor to romantically pursue a subordinate under his or her
supervision? Why or why not?
4. Some companies like Nike and Southwest Airlines openly try to recruit couples. Do you think this
is a good idea? How would you feel in a department with a “couple?”