Case Studies for Lunch and Learn

Case 1:

Michel has been working for Service Canada for 12 years. His wife has just lost her job and has applied for employment insurance. Michel thinks that it is taking a long time for his wife to receive news about the status of her application. Michel goes to see his co-worker Denis to ask him questions about the status and processing of his wife’s application. He asks him to process his wife’s application as a priority. After the surprise visit from Michel, Denis is not sure how to react. He decides to discuss the situation with his manager because he is not sure he can disclose the information.

After meeting Denis, the manager looks at the Department’s databases with the Security Division and concludes that an administrative investigation is necessary to find out exactly what happened. The investigation will allow him to find out if Michel used the Department’s databases for unauthorized purposes. Michel’s consultations of the databases were inventoried. The employee was called in for questioning by the investigators.

The following are the conclusions of the investigation:

The employee application 55 times on 12 different days.
The employee confirms that he attended a values and ethics training one year ago. He is aware that viewing and disclosing information about his wife’s employment insurance application is against the rules.
However, Michel believes it is fine to use his position at Service Canada to consult a loved one’s employment insurance application.
The employee admits that he asked his co-worker Denis to process his wife’s application as a priority.

Have your small group discuss this case and answer the following questions

Is there an ethical problem? If so, determine the nature of the problem.
Which values in the ESDC Code of Conduct were ignored?
What should be done to resolve the situation?
What should be done to prevent such a situation?

Case 2:

Josée has been working at Service Canada for three years. Her performance is satisfactory. Because of the office’s location, there is not always a manager present. For the past few months, management has noticed some gaps in her performance. She often has files returned to her by her team leader because of errors, which the team leader pointed out to her. On several occasions, you, her manager, have met with her to discuss her poor performance and look at various options to help her. She told you that she would get back on track and that she was experiencing some temporary fatigue. However, the situation remains the same. In fact, her performance is getting worse and worse. Also, several of her co-workers have complained that she does not contribute enough to the team. You have also received complaints that she spends her time making personal phone calls and writing emails. You have, moreover, noticed that she is on the phone or writing emails every time you pass by her office. You have asked her about it and she always has a good reason and said that she was writing to a consultant or a co-worker to check on a procedure. Management decides to initiate an administrative investigation. The emails that were sent and received using her employee account are checked. The employee was called in for questioning by the investigators.

The following is a summary of the conclusions of the investigation:

The employee opened a company to sell household products on the Internet nine months ago. No confidential report had been submitted by the employee.
The employee had sometimes used the employer’s electronic and telephone network for solicitation and client billing purposes.
The employee states that she did not harm anyone by using the office’s equipment.

Have your small group discuss this case and answer the following questions

Is there an ethical problem? If so, determine the nature of the problem.
Which values in the ESDC Code of Conduct were ignored?
What should be done to resolve the situation?
What should be done to prevent such a situation?

Case 3:

Pierre has been a Citizen Service Agent for 15 years. Departmental Regional Security recently conducted an investigation concerning Pierre after one of his co-workers denounced him. The co-worker said that he had heard that Pierre was consulting the Department’s databases at times when neither his official duties nor client requests warranted it. The employee decided to inform his manager of the situation. Note that all Citizen Service Agents had previously been instructed by management not to view claimants’ files when it was not related to their work so as to protect clients’ confidential information. The audit revealed that Pierre had consulted the files of 150 clients on 1,775 different occasions from 2008 to 2010. Pierre is somewhat surprised by the number of consultations, but admits that he viewed claimants’ files out of curiosity. In addition, he states that he did not get any personal benefit from doing so since he did not make any transactions in the client’s files.

Have your small group discuss this case and answer the following questions

Is there an ethical problem? If so, determine the nature of the problem.
Which values in the ESDC Code of Conduct were ignored?
What should be done to resolve the situation?
What should be done to prevent such a situation?

Case 4:

During your coffee break in the cafeteria, Carole notices that there are cosmetic product catalogues displayed on the tables. Out of curiosity, she decides to look at the brochure to find out more about the products being sold. She also notices that a company business card has been stapled to the cover of all the catalogues. The employee is astonished to see the name of one of her co-workers who works in another directorate on the business cards. The card says to contact Marie with any questions or orders and the phone number given is her work number. Carole is aware that this practice is commonplace in several Service Canada Centres in Quebec and that various products or services are regularly sold by employees either to fund their children’s activities (school or sport activities) or for personal profit (selling products, tax return services or real estate services). However, she remembers a training session on the Values and Ethics Code for the Public Service that she had attended a while ago that broached the subject of solicitation at work.

Have your small group discuss this case and answer the following questions

Is there an ethical problem? If so, determine the nature of the problem.
Which values in the ESDC Code of Conduct were ignored?
What should be done to resolve the situation?
What should be done to prevent such a situation?

Case 5:

Sonia has worked as a Program Officer for the past five years. In her free time at home sheenjoys using various social media websites. A few weeks ago, Sonia accepted a co-worker's friend request on Facebook. One evening when she was on Facebook looking at herfriends’ comments, she noticed that her co-worker was openly criticizing the Department’s decision not to renew several of her co-workers’ contracts. Her co-worker was also clearly identifying herself as an employee of Service Canada. She was using terms that directly blamed management:

“It’s not easy to work for Service Canada with all the cutbacks. Once again it’s the front line employees who have to pay for management’s bad decisions. Our workload will once again be increased to the point that it is detrimental to our health. It’s obvious that our managers do not work directly with citizens. They have no consideration for their employees!”

Have your small group discuss this case and answer the following questions

Is there an ethical problem? If so, determine the nature of the problem.
Which values in the ESDC Code of Conduct were ignored?
What should be done to resolve the situation?
What should be done to prevent such a situation?

Case 6:

Francis has held a Program and Service Delivery Clerk position for the past three years at a Service Canada Centre. He is trying to qualify for a higher-level position that is more related to his university education. After he was eliminated from a selection process,he sent an email in which he insulted his Team Leader and complained about not having been chosen for the promotion. The Team Leader told him that expressing his concernsin this manner was unacceptable and met with him to discuss the problem. However, Francis compounded matter by sending another email to his manager complaining about the same thing. He even sent copies of his email to other employees as well as to the Service Area Manager. The manager found the emails insulting, offensive and clearly inappropriate. He also believes that Francis’s lack of respect for management directly challenges the employer’s authority and constitutes insubordination. This is not the first time that the employee has had difficulty respecting his managers and co-workers. Several complaints werefiled by employees with management regarding his disrespectful, arrogant comments and threatening demeanour.

Have your small group discuss this case and answer the following questions

Is there an ethical problem? If so, determine the nature of the problem.
Which values in the ESDC Code of Conduct were ignored?
What should be done to resolve the situation?
What should be done to prevent such a situation?