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The ethics of confidentiality

Friday 2 December, 2022
by Anonymous

Groups of people talking at a party

It’s the festive season and you’re attending quite a few social events. Unsurprisingly, the conversations have been flowing freely between colleagues and peers following two years of cancellations.

Today you are attending a fairly sizeable industry gathering and you find yourself talking to Beth from another department. There's quite a bit to catch up on, and soon Beth is telling you about a confidential project she worked on with a highly valued client and sharing some fairly embarrassing examples of the client’s behaviour.

While you felt a little uncomfortable with the amount of detail Beth was going in to, what you didn’t know was an associate of that client overheard the conversation.

The client calls you first thing Monday morning and insists Beth be fired for unprofessional behaviour.
 

What would you do?

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Photo by Antenna on Unsplash

Comments

There are 1 comments for The ethics of confidentiality.

Re: The ethics of confidentiality

Monday 5 December, 2022
by Stan
I would have to ask why you let someone at the function trash a client in the first place. Wouldn't it have been better to stop the conversation and say something like "this isn't the place" or at the least be discreet.
So next, do you stand up for Beth and admit to being a culprit as well? I guess then maybe you'd both be fired.
Maybe the organisation could approach Beth, explain that she has been reported and ask her to personally apologise for her comments. Her manager could then explain that she is a good employee and regrets her actions etc. Unless of course she's not and this sort of behaviour is common from her...
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