Assignment 4
Facts:
One of my coworkers at ABC company, Luke came to me asking for some advises. Luke has
been recently working on a project involving the development of lands that have been brought by
the company to build an adult entertainment retail store. Luke brother’s Owen happens to live in
that same neighborhood the retail store will be built in. As a result of building the retail store, the
value of the properties in that neighborhood will significantly decrease. Owen is considering
selling his property. He has received a fair price to sell his house but is wondering if he should
sell his house now, or wait for the real estate price to go up so that he can get the most out of his
house.
Issue
Luke has a dilemma: to tell or not to tell his brother about the project. If he does not tell, Owen
will end up selling his house for less than actual price or even worse, less than the price he paid
for it. His other alternative is that he will be stuck with a low value house he does not want any
more. The ethical dilemma that Luke is facing arises from the fact that he has a confidentiality
obligation toward his company but also should be loyal and truthful to his brother. Moreover,
Owen has asked him if he should accept the offer or not. In the following we will make an
analysis of Luke’s dilemma using the Golden Rule and the Virtue Ethics.
