Case Study: Second Thoughts

Durable Drygoods, Inc. is an active recruiter at Internet University. In fact, they have given the school thousands of dollars over the years. The Company is committed to increasing the diversity of its work force. The company offers a summer internship for students between their junior and senior years in school. They will pay the students a salary during the summer, as well as their tuition, books, and lab fees for their senior year. As a condition of receiving the tuition for the senior year, students are asked to accept an offer of full-time employment with the company at the end of the summer. After acceptance of the offer, if the student revokes it, he/she must repay the tuition, plus interest, to the company.

Sandy Rodriquez accepts an offer of employment with Durable after her summer internship. Durable pays $5,000 to the school for tuition and lab fees, and pays $1,000 to Sandy for books. About four months later, she learns that Drygoods has a poor reputation regarding promotion opportunities for women and Hispanics. She is also offered another opportunity with a different company at a starting salary that $5,000 more than the Drygoods offer. She tells Drygoods she is not interested in working for them.

Questions to consider (Do not simply answer the questions, but write a 1-2 page journal synthesizing your points while answering these questions):

1. What are the ethical or practical implications of making an offer to an individual prior to their senior year?

2. What about the ethics of Sandys renege? Should she have to repay the tuition, lab fees, and the cost of books?

3. What help, if any, should career services provide?

4. What would you do to salvage the situation?