Ethics and Credibility in Business Communications

Ethics and Credibility in Business Communications

April Willis

Com/295

February 1, 2016

Sharon Palmitier

Ethics and Credibility in Business Communications

        Researching businesses that have been accused of unethical practices provided a multitude of results on the internet. Walmart & Associates, Inc. caught my interest with the high volume of articles related to practices violating their employees.

        A suit has been filed in Alameda County, CA against Walmart by Bonnie Cardoza, an assistant manager of more than four (4) years, accusing the corporation of wage theft.  Ms. Cardoza has filed this suit on behalf of any Walmart employee who has experienced the same between January 2011 and January 2015; however, it still isn’t certain this case will achieve class action status. The lawsuit has been filed on the basis that workers are being misclassified as salaried and exempt from receiving overtime pay, but are required to perform the duties of hourly paid employees for more than eight (8) hours per day, which is the overtime standard in the state of California, and have been deprived of rest and meal breaks as well. Mark (2015), “[Cardoza] and all the other [Walmart] Assistant Store Managers were ‘managers’ in name only because they did not have the managerial duties or authority and should therefore have been properly classified as non-exempt employees,” the lawsuit states. “

        Walmart’s ethical obligation to its employees and the public, at a minimum, is to respond and explain their position on this claim. Labor laws are written to protect employees and the burden of proof most often falls on the employer but, it is not unheard of for false claims to be made by disgruntled employees, or even deceptive individuals just looking for a quick settlement. After all, this giant retailer has become somewhat of an attractive target posting its profits at $6.3 billion in 2000, (Willing 2010).