Week 4: Kelsey Kim A03

Kelsey Kim

Section A03

In August 2006, UC Davis Nutritionist, Amy Block Joy, became the "Whistleblower" after alerting administrators and faculty of the evidence of fraudulent activities within the UC Food Stamp Nutrition Education Program. In her article, "Ethics and 'Breaking Bad': Developing and practicing ethical skills," Joy draws from her experience with ethics as the whistleblower and explores the positive impact of ethics training in the work setting. She explains how putting lessons about ethics in the context of the popular show, "Breaking Bad," can be more engaging and productive. In the classroom setting, the lives and decisions of the fictional characters, Walter and Jesse, provide many scenarios that can be debated. The "Confidence and practice…" of responding to ethical scenarios will "…increase the likelihood that action will be taken instead of staying silent," thus, training in ethics will help to establish a positive culture that encourages the community to respond to unethical behavior in a productive way (Joy, 2014, p. 74). Furthermore, such a trend would hopefully prevent illegal activities from occurring over long periods of time unreported. During her attempts to make the fraudulent activities of the department known, Joy's superiors made many efforts to silence her. Forces such as fear and pressure (often the looming threat of losing one's job) are the barriers that scare people into inaction upon witnessing unethical behavior. For these reasons, many faculty and staff who knew about the fraudulent activities failed to report them. Amy suggests that the introduction of ethics training workshops will help to change the culture of the work environment and encourage employees to act morally and speak up about illegal activities. 

Question: 

In order to report the findings of fraudulent activity, Amy Block Joy went to her superior who was allegedly involved in the embezzlement. She became the Whistleblower because she had the audacity to take action against it. However, should it be the responsibility of the school administrators to audit and check the departments for illegal activity?

Resources:

Joy, A. B. (2014). Ethics and “Breaking Bad”: Developing and practicing ethical skills. Compliance and Ethics Professional.

[Digital Image] Retrieved October 15, 2017, from http://forward.com/scribe/365065/what-breaking-bad-can-teach-us-about-personal-ethics/ (n.d.). Getty Images.