Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-jn8rn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-21T17:17:51.600Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Liability-Driven Ethics: The Impact on Hiring Practices

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 January 2015

Rosalind Ladd ,
Lynn Pasquerella  and
Sheri Smith
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract:

This paper examines economic arguments employers sometimes use to justify restricting or excluding from employment those workers who are likely to incur high costs in health care insurance. We argue that, although profit-making is a legitimate goal for businesses, hiring practices based on non-job-related criteria violate principles of self determination, autonomy, discrimination, justice, and privacy. We conclude that hiring practices based on liability-driven ethics are not morally justified, but that as long as health care insurance and employment are linked, businesses will continue to have an incentive to use liability-driven arguments.

Type
Articles
Information
Business Ethics Quarterly , Volume 4 , Issue 3 , July 1994 , pp. 321 - 333
Copyright
Copyright © Society for Business Ethics 1994

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

A.C.L.U. (1991) Lifestyle Discrimination. Pages 1–14.Google Scholar
Bowie, Norman and Duska, Ronald. (1990) Business Ethics. 2nd edition. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall. Pages 34–39.Google Scholar
Draper, Elaine. (1991) Risky Business. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Pages 3–8.Google Scholar
Elson, John. (1991) “Busybodies: The New Puritans” in Time (August 12). Pages 20–22.Google Scholar
Feinberg, Joel. (1973) Social Philosophy. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall. Page 26.Google Scholar
Friedman, Milton. (1970) “Social Responsibility of Business is to Increase its Profits” in New York Times Magazine, (September 13). Page 126.Google Scholar
Kilborn, Peter. (1990) “Who Decides Who Works at Jobs Imperiling Fetuses?” in The New York Times, (September 2). Page 1.Google Scholar
Kuttner, Robert. (1991) “Our Unraveling Health Care System” in The Washington Post, (December 10).Google Scholar
Ladd, R., Pasquerella, L., Smith, S. (1993) “In the Interest of the Fetus: Mandatory Prenatal Classes in the Workplace” in Women and Politics 3/4, vol. 13.Google Scholar
Lappe, Marc. (1984) “The Predictive Power of the New Genetics,” Hastings Center Report, (October).Google Scholar
McGann v. H & H Music Company (1991) 946 F. 2nd 402 5th Cir.Google Scholar
Mill, John Stuart. (1859) On Liberty. (London). Chapter 1.Google Scholar
Moseley, Rayet. al. (1991) “Ethical Implications of a Complete Human Gene Map” in Business and Professional Ethics Journal (vol. 10, no. 4). Pages 69–82.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Murray, Thomas. (1984) “Genetic Screening in the Workplace” in Hastings Center Report. (October). Pages 51–59.Google Scholar
Philadelphia Inquirer. (1991) “Private Lives Becoming Employers’ Business” (March 31).Google Scholar
Postol, Lawrence and Kadue, David. (1991) “An Employer’s Guide to the American’s With Disabilities Act” in Labor Law Journal (vol. 42, no. 6). Pages 323–342.Google Scholar
Rawls, John. (1971) A Theory of Justice, (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press).Google Scholar
Schloerb, John. (1991) Employment Discrimination Based On Employee Lifestyles, A. C. L. U. Document Bank #P 13.Google Scholar
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 as amended by the Pregnancy Discrimination Act 78, Stat. 241.Google Scholar
Werhane, Patricia. (1985) Persons, Rights and Corporations, (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall) Chapter 4.Google Scholar
Winchester News Gazette (1990) “Company Fires Employees for Lighting Up at Home” from American Smokers Alliance Publication. (March 23).Google Scholar