Business Ethics Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Business Ethics - Case Study Example As with most ethical decisions, there is likely no one solid answer, but I have done my best below to provide some possible courses of action that the judge in this case could consider. Question 1 In this situation, Mr. Groetsch has done nothing wrong. As such, he is under no obligation to allow other people to handle his personal fight against Securities America. He is convinced that he has been financially damaged as a result of this case, and he is perfectly able to work through arbitration on his own, with a judge, to come a fair resolution. Let us remember that arbitration was set up as a way to settle disputes between two parties who simply cannot come to an agreement on any given problem. The judge in this situation should only concern himself with the specific arbitration case that Mr. Groetsch has dutifully bought before him, regardless of any potential impact on cases that might be pending before other courts at a future date. This is a decision that will likely weigh on th e judge, knowing that many more clients may lose out on a judgment in the future that is rightfully due them. In the end, however, the judge is ethically responsible for the arbitration hearing in this case and should let it proceed without delay. Question 2 This case is particularly troublesome because of the sheer number of clients that were adversely impacted as a result of the fraudulent acts partaken by Securities America. Due to this unique situation, no one person should receive the benefit of arbitration at this time until the outcomes of the class action suits are settled. The actions of one fraudulent company has negatively impacted the lives of many people, so the judge should ethically do everything in his power to make sure all alleged victims have an equally opportunity at a fair judgment. The judge should go ahead and table the arbitration hearing and allow the cases in Montana and Massachusetts to proceed. This will allow the money that is currently available to be p aid out to victims to remain in a frozen, yet liquid account to be distributed once the case is completed. Once settled, the judge should then allow the arbitration to proceed until finished. The reasoning behind this lies in simple numbers. Should one person benefit greatly from arbitration, draining a limited pool of funds that will be available, while the masses are left to scrounge what is left over? In this case, that would not be a beneficial course for anyone involved, except Mr. Groetsch. It needs to be pointed out that he had the option to join the class action suit, yet for whatever reason, decided not to. As such, he has given up his claim to that hearing. His actions, however, do nothing to mitigate the fact that class action suits are filed to level the playing the field. That is what the judge should do in this case – level the playing field so all victims will eventually be compensated in a fair and equitable manner. Question 3 The judge in this case can also a ct as an advisor. In the legal system, judges are put in place to protect those that appear before them. In this particular situation, it appears that the interests of Mr. Groetsch will be best served if he were to drop his arbitration claim and fold his interests into the class action suits that are pending. This becomes particularly helpful advice if the judge has already determined that he is going to table the arbitration hearing until the current cases in Montana and Massachusetts are resolved. If this were to happen, there would simply be little to no money left to pay Mr. Groetsch in any event. While the estimated 10 cents to the dollar is not a happy outcome for this client, it will certainly be better than