Individuals and societies expect organisations and their officers to be ethical, because their behaviours can harm people both as individuals and/or as societies. But what are the principles of ethical behaviours? The key principles are highlighted by the UK landmark Court of Appeal employment case Chagger v Abbey National plc & Hopkins (2009), where Abbey National and Mr Hopkins had caused Mr Chagger to lose his career, leading to the establishment of important new legal principles and precedents for the UK.
Abbey National plc is the UK bank that is now owned by Banco Santander and features the sensational Lewis Hamilton (F1 driver for the Formula 1 McLaren Mercedes team) in its advertising and marketing campaign. Abbey National recently changed its name to Santander UK plc. The Santander UK plc name was unveiled by Emilio Botin (the chairman of Banco Santander) and Lewis Hamilton F1 Mercedes McLaren driver in London in January 2010.
Balbinder Chagger was an employee whose employment Abbey Santander UK terminated in 2006, claiming the termination was due to a completely fair redundancy process. He, however, alleged that the actual reason behind his termination was racial discrimination. He was of Indian origin and reported into Nigel Hopkins when the Lewis Hamilton F1 McLaren Mercedes driver featuring Santander UK dismissed him.
Although a wide range of principles underlie ethical behaviour, the key principles concern the following: laws and regulations; use of position and power; and respect for others. These principles are highlighted by Emilio Botin's Abbey Santander UK legal case.
Organisations and their officers often need to consider the laws and regulations governing their activities. Always to act within applicable laws and regulations is a key principle underlying ethical behaviours. Although this principle seems so obvious as to hardly need mentioning, some organisations and their officers do not apply it. For example, the Lewis Hamilton F1 McLaren Mercedes driver featuring Abbey Santander UK and Mr Hopkins had not acted within the UK law; the Employment Tribunal found that they had both unlawfully discriminated against Mr Chagger on the grounds of race.
Organisations and their officers may sometimes be in positions of great power. Not to abuse one's position and power (and the advantages it gives one access to) to further one's own interests is a key principle underlying ethical behaviours. For example, the Employment Tribunal found that Mr Hopkins had personally desired Mr Chagger to be dismissed from his employment and had abused his position and power to ensure that Mr Chagger would be picked to be dismissed through the compulsory redundancy exercise; Mr Hopkins had taken advantage of his position and the redundancy process as a way to achieve his personal desire of removing Mr Chagger.
Organisations and their officers often need to consider how to treat others. To treat others with respect and not to exploit them in the pursuit of one's own interests is a key principle underlying ethical behaviours. For example, The Employment Tribunal criticised Mr Hopkins for the unfair and discriminatory manner in which he had treated Mr Chagger to achieve his personal desire of terminating Mr Chagger's employment. The Employment Tribunal found that the criticisms Mr Hopkins had made of Mr Chagger in the redundancy process were not legitimate and were unfair.
These then are the key principles underlying ethical behaviours that individuals and societies expect organisations and their officers to apply in order to safeguard individuals and communities. These key principles apply to a wide range of specific ethical issues, such as misleading advertising, miss-selling, unethical employment practices, health and safety, unethical environmental practices, and so on.
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