Business entities have a moral obligation to act ethically towards its customers. Ethics demand that every customer who comes to the business premises should be accorded equal treatment irrespective of their race, religion or ethnic group. However, cases of customer discrimination are not new in the business world.
In the year 2016, a deaf woman from New Jersey by the name Gina Cirrincione sued Taco Bell, a fast food chain for allegedly discriminating against her on two accounts. On the first account, Gina used a drive-thru on January 11 th to access the services from Taco Bell in Pleasantville. According to the lawsuit, Gina was berated by the manager when she tried to make an order through the pickup window. According to her, the manager was insensitive to her despite her disability. She was served but was told that she would not be served next time if she did not pack and get inside like everybody else. On a second account, Gina had an almost similar but worse experience when she was completely ignored by a worker in her hometown of Atlantic City. The lawsuit indicated that on March 15, Gina was refused service by a worker at Taco Bell. According to the report, Cirrincione handed a note with her order to the worker at the drive-in window. Moments later, she was handed back the note and the worker closed the window without a word leaving her humiliated and confused. The lawsuit cites Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act which obliges a business to make rational accommodations and provide services as well as goods to people with disabilities (Christenson, & Ingerson, 2016) In this case, Gina was not given reasonable accommodations.
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The above case relates to the theory of Deontology. The theory states that individuals should abide by their responsibilities and duties when engaged in decision making when ethics are in play. This means that an individual will follow his or her responsibility to another person or the society because doing so is considered ethically right. In the case, both the manager and the worker at the drive-in window had the obligation of executing their duties by serving Gina because by doing so, they would be acting ethically (Beauchamp, Bowie, & Arnold, 2004).
Put under a similar situation as the manager or the worker, I would have executed my moral obligation to the customer by serving her then later in a rational manner explain to her why she should pack and go inside for the services. The ethical responsibility should be superior in decision making.
Works Cited
Beauchamp, T. L., Bowie, N. E., & Arnold, D. G. (Eds.). (2004). Ethical theory and business.
Christenson, A. P., & Ingerson, M. C. (2016, July). Business Law, Religion, and Pro-Social Behavior in the Workplace. In Proceedings of the International Association for Business and Society (Vol. 27, pp. 32-42).
