Business and Professional Ethics

Running head: BUSINESS AND PROFESSIONAL ETHICS
Business and Professional Ethics
Name of the Student
Name of the University
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1BUSINESS AND PROFESSIONAL ETHICS
1. What is workplace sexual harassment as per the Australian Human Rights
Commission?
Sexual harassment in general refers to an unwelcome sexual advance requesting for
sexual favors of a sexual nature in relation to the person who has been harassed in a
certain circumstances as mentioned in the Sex Discrimination Act, 1984. Workplace
sexual harassment refers to the activities that have been mentioned above occurring or
happening in an organization (Quick and McFadyen 2017). The Australian Human Rights
Commission states when a reasonable individual has anticipated the probability of the
individual being harassed will be humiliated because of the sexual nature or favors.
2. The morality of sexual harassment based on the moral theories of Kantian and
Utilitarian.
Sexual harassment is one of the sexual abuses that take place in the workplaces.
Utilitarian and Kantian theories can be applied when there has been sexual harassment at
workplace. Therefore, when Kantian ethics is applied in the concept of sexual harassment,
every common kind has been treated as violation. The Kantian sees the process of sexual
harassment as a tendency to inhibit otherwise that is possible for the growth and
development. Therefore, the Kantian theory always violates the categorical imperative of the
sexual harassment. Hence, there is a danger exists in accepting the principle of the theories
that can be implied in the sexual harassment. It is therefore, treated to be an appropriate
approach for this situation. In the conclusion when both the theories are applied it was stated
that ethics approach to sexual harassment results in violation.
3.
(a) If the situation state that the perpetrator did not speak or touch the employee but sent
explicit text messages and emails then it will not result in any kind of sexual harassment as

2BUSINESS AND PROFESSIONAL ETHICS
per the Australian Human Rights Commission (2014). Without these two elements, it cannot
constitute in sexual harassment.
(b) If the perpetrator did not want to have sex with the employee, but exchanged messages
and calls and spoke to her in a sexually manner then it will constitute the concept of sexual
harassment according to the Australian Human Rights Commission (2014). However, if there
is no involvement of consent and desire of abusing any individual sexually then it cannot be
treated as sexual harassment (HerscH 2015).
(c) If the employee had previously associated in a sexually explicit conversation in the
workplace then this situation can be treated to result in sexual harassment (Malhotra and
Srivastava 2016). The previous conversation itself is the evidence of the fact that it is an
element of sexual harassment as per the Australian Human Rights Commission (2014).
(d) In circumstances where the employee has given consent to have sex with the perpetrator,
it is not considered as a case of sexual harassment as it have been provided by the Australian
Human Rights Commission (2014). Providing consent will not result in any kind of sexual
harassment.
4. Four ways in which the employers may be liable for workplace sexual harassment
The four ways by which the employers can be held liable for workplace sexual harassment
are the following:
 If an individual asks inappropriate questions and makes suggestions about the sex life
of a person.
 If there have been threats or intimidation against an employee who makes statement
about the unwelcome behavior associating sexual overtones.
 If offensive and sexist posters, pictures, texts, mms or emails have been displayed by