Case 32: After-Hour Activities: The Case of Peter Oiler
1. What are the ethical issues in this case?
The ethical issues center on firing an employee because of his off-duty behavior. The subject of
2. Who are the stakeholders and how are they impacted by this situation?
The stakeholders are the employee, Peter Oiler, the employer, Winn-Dixie, and others who will
be impacted by the decision, e.g. the transgender community represented by the American Civil
3. Did Winn-Dixie have a legitimate concern that Peter’s off-the-job behavior might adversely
affect the company’s reputation?
4. In today’s social-media-crazed environment, an employee’s off-the-job behavior could be
reported and go viral overnight and adversely impact the reputation of an employer. Should this
be taken into consideration in designing policies to address after-hours conduct?
Only to the extent that the after-hours contact occurred on the employer’s premises, the
5. Do you agree with the federal judge’s decision? If you were the judge what would you do?
6. An ordinance in New Orleans prohibited discrimination against off-the-job cross-dressing.
However, the Winn-Dixie branch that fired Oiler is located just outside that jurisdiction. Does
this affect your answer to #2?
7. For what after-hours behavior do you think it is appropriate to discipline or terminate an
employee? What after-hours behavior is it not appropriate? Where do you draw the line and
how would you describe that line if you were developing a policy to put into an employee
manual?
After-hours behavior that is illegal, places others in harm’s way, or purports to represent the