ACCEPTING BRIBES

Sandra worked in the quality control department of a large engineering company. One of her usual assignments was to test the compacted layers of gravel and other materials used in building roadways. It was a very important function because no further work could take place in areas where her tests failed. Indeed, sometimes contractors needed to redo large sections of a layer and wait for her to redo the test. This was always very costly for contractors.

Sandra's firm was contracted to do the quality control in the construction of a large highway. The company building the highway had encountered many unexpected obstacles in the project and found itself behind schedule and way over cost. The foreman of the project approached Sandra one day and told her that he would pay her a certain sum of money for each test passed. He made sure that he also told her that he was not asking her to pass any area which failed, "I am not bribing you to do anything unethical like that," he said. "We are just asking you to allow us to show our appreciation for the work you do."

Sandra did not know what to make of all this. She needed the money but was not totally comfortable with the offer. She neither verbally accepted nor rejected the offer and told no one about that curious conversation with the foreman. Almost every week after the foreman's approach, Sandra began to receive little packages. Sometimes they would appear on her car seat, sometimes in her mail, always they contained cash. After a while she found herself taking samples for testing only in areas, which seemed strong and up to standard while overlooking questionable areas.

Is it wrong to accept gifts for doing your duty?

Should Sandra have told her superiors of the curious conversation she had with the foreman?

What should Sandra do with the money in the packages?

Ken had the mundane task of archiving all the old documents of a large financial institution. A quiet and upright man, Ken applied himself to his daily tasks so diligently that there was seldom ever a complaint towards his department. Requests for old documents were always found and delivered by him on time. One day, however, a stranger approached him at home with a request to find and deliver a number of documents the next day. Ken realised that all of the documents this strange visitor requested concerned a man under police investigation. He shuddered when the man asked him the odd question, "What would you do if your wife and daughter suddenly disappeared?" Ken was warned not to tell anyone about the visit before the man finally left.

The next morning Ken did exactly what he was told to do. He knew that he would be suspected of tampering with evidence but felt that he had no choice. "At least", he thought, "there is no hard evidence against me.

What were Ken's options?

Was Ken morally wrong to deliver the documents to the stranger?

If Ken did not do what the stranger asked, and his wife was killed as a result, would he be culpable?

If you were in a situation like Ken, what would you do?

They said that everybody did it. To get a liquor licence everyone had to pay a bribe. His father did it just last year, but Carlos could not. The bar he inherited from his dad was like a landmark. What could he do? Taking legal action against the licensing board would prove costly and lengthy. It would be so easy to pay the bribe and go on with life, but in his heart, Carlos knew that he could not. He would not. It was not that he was anyone of high moral standards. If he could have done anything, moral or immoral, to keep the bar he would have, once it did not entail causing any other person to do wrong. The way he saw it was that he would be encouraging another in an immoral act if he paid the bribe.

Is giving or receiving a bribe encouraging another to do wrong?

Are not there two wrongs in bribery: One, in being dishonest and the other, in misdirecting another person? Which wrong is worse?

How noble is it to direct another in ways of righteousness?

Activity: Imagine a student who saw and copied the question paper of a very important exam, and decided to sell it to a few other students. Write some of the reasons this student would use to convince himself that what he is doing is not that bad. Write the excuses the students buying the questions might use to justify their actions. Analyze the flaws in these excuses.