Collins, Business Ethics 3e
SAGE Publishing, 2021
Test Bank
CASE STUDY 11: UBER’S #METOO RECKONING: SEXUAL HARASSMENT AND
GENDER DISCRIMINATION
Multiple Choice
1. Uber is a company that specializes in ______.
a. ride-sharing
b. food delivery
c. bike rentals
d. premade meal kits
2. One challenge Uber faces related to its own staff is the threat of ______.
a. labor shortages
b. rapid turnover
c. increasing overhead
d. driver unionization
3. What did Susan Fowler, a female engineer at Uber, blow the whistle about?
a. money laundering by executives
b. culture of tolerance for sexual harassment
c. discrimination in the hiring process
d. failure to comply with labor laws
Collins, Business Ethics 3e
SAGE Publishing, 2021
4. When Fowler met with HR, their suggestions for dealing with sexual harassment at
Uber involved Fowler ______.
a. getting a promotion
b. leaving the company
c. making concessions
d. working with law enforcement
5. What justification did HR provide for their lack of action toward the manager who
harassed Fowler?
a. Her words were not trustworthy.
b. He was a high performer for the company.
c. She was too new to understand the company.
d. She was mistaken about the appropriate response.
6. What evidence did Fowler provide to support her claim that she was retaliated
against by management?
a. Fellow employees made rude comments.
b. She was taken off of projects.
c. The company didn’t mention her on the website.
d. Her desk was repeatedly isolated.
7. Why did HR resist the group of women who complained about sexual harassment?
a. The group of women were union operatives acting in bad faith.
b. HR claimed they were bringing up issues that had already been resolved.
Collins, Business Ethics 3e
SAGE Publishing, 2021
c. The group of women were part of a test by the board of directors.
d. HR would not comment on cases that were ongoing.
8. The manager compensation structure incentivized managers to ______.
a. retain women on their team
b. complete as many projects as possible
c. increase the size of their teams
d. finish projects quicker than other teams
9. What was one of the consequences of Eric Holder’s investigation of the company?
a. Uber was found to be a responsible employer.
b. Twenty managers were fired.
c. The code of ethics was maintained.
d. Compliance with federal laws was achieved.
10. Why did Uber remove the mandate for internal arbitration?
a. Federal laws required its removal.
b. It costs too much money to maintain.
c. It maintained employee silence.
d. Its internal arbitration team all resigned.
Collins, Business Ethics 3e
SAGE Publishing, 2021
11. Organizations without an internal reporting system may experience ______.
a. employee whistleblowing
b. increased informal reporting
c. federal scrutiny
d. recruitment difficulties
12. HR professionals are largely believed to represent the interests of ______.
a. the victims
b. the accusers
c. the public good
d. the organization
13. Employees are more likely to remain silent if what has happened?
a. Executives have resigned.
b. They are deemed unprofessional.
c. They are asked by HR to remain quiet.
d. Previous cases have been ignored.
14. Primary-level interventions focus on what area(s)?
a. post-report guidance
b. legal compliance and employee satisfaction
c. communication and reputation management
Collins, Business Ethics 3e
SAGE Publishing, 2021
d. policy and training
15. One-time training allows organizations to demonstrate ______ regarding reporting
best practices.
a. mastery
b. adequacy
c. compliance
d. progress
16. Secondary-level interventions guide what action?
a. How organization representatives respond to reports of sexual harassment?
b. Communication strategies for managing public relations concerns.
c. Compliance with federal employee protection standards.
d. Severance and settlement packages for victims and perpetrators.
17. Secondary-level interventions require ______ reporting to be effective.
a. general and specific
b. timely and accurate
c. thorough and official
d. formal and informal
Collins, Business Ethics 3e
SAGE Publishing, 2021
18. Tertiary-level interventions are used for what purpose?
a. beginner’s training
b. follow up support
c. new employee onboarding
d. executive specialization
19. Research has shown that ______ devoted to interventions help make progress
toward a safer workplace.
a. enthusiasm and energy
b. passion and care
c. money and pressure
d. time and resources
20. Given that reporting has been made difficult for women to use, the result has been
______.
a. organizational change
b. underreporting
c. going public
d. overreporting
Collins, Business Ethics 3e
SAGE Publishing, 2021
True/False
1. One of the charges against the workplace culture at Uber was that it was both
retaliatory and aggressively masculine.
2. Susan Fowler, the whistleblower, claimed that she chose to change teams because it
was a better fit for her.
3. Uber required harassment cases be handled by independent contractors.
4. Research has shown that the majority of organizations have internal and anonymous
reporting for sexual harassment complaints.
5. Most employees report to external bodies rather than use internal reporting methods.
Collins, Business Ethics 3e
SAGE Publishing, 2021
Essay
1. Why would HR be more supportive of managers than the employees claiming they
were harassed?
2. How did Uber’s incentive structure aid in the unfair treatment of female employees?
3. What practices did Uber use to maintain employee silence?
Collins, Business Ethics 3e
SAGE Publishing, 2021
4. What conditions have led to underreporting of sexual harassment at work?
5. If you were Uber’s CEO what would you do to address sexual harassment claims and
concerns about the negative workplace culture?