A woman is sexually harassed by a top-level senior executive in a large company. She sues the company, and during settlement dis
cussions she is offered an extremely large monetary settlement. In the agreement, the woman is required to confirm that the executive did nothing wrong, and after the agreement is signed the woman is prohibited from discussing anything about the incident publicly. Before the date scheduled to sign the settlement agreement, the woman's lawyer mentions that she has heard the executive has done this before, and the settlement amount is very large because the company probably had a legal obligation to dismiss the executive previously. The company however wants to keep the executive because he is a big money maker for the company. What are the issues of integrity, ethics and law posed in the
case study? What options does the woman have, and what
should she do and why?
The issue of integrity is that the company is ignoring her civil rights as an individual.
In this case, the woman is sexually harassed by a top-level senior executive in a large company. There should be a higher moral standard for the company itself, this executive is going to present an inappropriate image for the company.
The woman can decline the settlement amount and continue with the sexual harassment case or that she can accept the settlement, keep her job. She should not collect the money and continue the case. This will help in putting an end to the act.
