Scenario

Bill is the manager and head of a not-for-profit organisation that provides a valuable service to young people in the community. Mary joined the organisation about six months ago, taking on the position of Assistant Manager. Mary and Bill work closely together and have up until recently enjoyed a very good working relationship. Around two months ago, however, Mary’s behaviour started to change. She began to take regular sick days (i.e. one a week), has not been able to meet deadlines for projects she is managing, and regularly loses her temper with the staff whom she supervises. Bill has talked to Mary on a number of occasions but Mary assures him that she is doing the best she can under the circumstances. Without going into any details, Mary has informed Bill that she has some ‘personal problems’ that she is trying to work through. While Bill feels sorry for Mary because of her personal issues, he also is frustrated by her lack of concentration, professionalism, and commitment to the job. Bill becomes concerned when a member of staff informs him that she saw Mary at the casino (the very same day she phoned the office to say she was sick). It is no secret to people in the office that Mary spends almost every lunch hour at the casino. While Bill genuinely likes Mary and knows she has the potential to be a good worker, he is not sure what to do. Also, he is concerned about the other staff in the organisation, some of whom think he is wrong for delegating part of her load to them on the days she is away.

As a starting point, we have assumed that Bill finds the situation problematic because he believes he faces an ethical dilemma. Please note that there are likely to be a number of options Bill could consider.