David's Dilemmas

David showed a positive ethical consideration towards Sheila. Whereas Sheila was not able to show him the same consideration when they were preparing for their assignment. Sheila basically didn’t care about how David was going to feel by not replying him back because she thought she was in a better place than David. In this case, the communication rules are broken between them and David feels scared.

Sheila’s communication with management was more of David’s idea and taking all the credit. Without letting the management know of David’s involvement in the work. Sheila refused to acknowledge the works and ideas of David to the management.

David could have confronted Sheila first place and verify why his name was kept out of the presentation.

He could have also gone to see a top-level management (if there is an open-door policy) and discussed the situation between him and Sheila, and let them know of his involvement.

I would have approached Sheila and asked for an explanation to why I wasn’t part of the presentation, and why she decided to take all the credit? If her explanation isn’t enough, I will go and see our supervisor and explain everything to them.

Communicator intent doesn’t impact the ethics in this kind of situations because here Sheila is trying to get credit for the things she did not do. And this can go a long way by affecting David’s reputation in the company.