Sample Ethics and Sexual Harassment Questions
1.Which federal law defines and prohibits sexual harassment?
A.The Equal Rights Act
B.The Sexual Protection Act
C.The Civil Rights Act
D.The Work Environment Protection Act
Answer: C—The Civil Rights Act
2.Which of the following is not an example of intellectual property owned by a company?
A.Patents
B.Trademarks
C.Copyrighted Documents
D.Company Facilities
Answer: D—Company Facilities
3.Quid pro quo sexual harassment refers to:
A.A corporation that consistently fails to promote females into leadership positions.
B.A supervisor who requests sexual favors in exchange for employment or promotional opportunities.
C.A work environment that allows slander of other employees based on their gender.
D.Both A and C
E.All of the above
Answer: B—The supervisor who requests sexual favors in exchange for an employment or promotion. A quid pro quo sexual harassment situation exists when sex is requested, required, or implied to keep a job, or to obtain a job, to obtain a promotion.
4.Which of the following are correct ethical behaviors to follow if you possess inside information that could potentially affect the company’s stock price?
A.Refrain from trading any company stock you own yourself until the information is made public.
B.Refrain from advising anyone else to trade in the company stock until the information is made public.
C.Refrain from discussing the information with anyone else (including your spouse, family, and friends.) until it is made public.
D.Both A and B
E.All of the above
Answer: E—All of the above
5.Sexual harassment can take place between:
A.Men and women
B.Women and women
C.Men and men
D.All of the above
Answer: D—All of the above
6.Which of the following is an example of a potential conflict of interest?
A.A bank employee also sells quilts at craft shows on the weekends.
B.A sales employee owns company stock and she feels this motivates her to work harder to sell the company’s products to customers.
C.An employee works in a mortgage company as a loan officer and also has his own small mortgage brokerage company on the side.
D.An employee works for a large retail grocery chain but buys her own groceries at the corner grocery store on a regular basis.
Answer: C—A potential conflict of interest exists if an employee engages in a business that competes directly with that of his or her employer.
7.Which of the following evidence is required to prove a hostile work environment sexual harassment case being reviewed in a court of law?
A.The plaintiff’s attorney must show evidence that the defendant(s) deliberately intended to offend and harass the plaintiff.
B.The plaintiff’s attorney must show evidence that the defendant’s words, behaviors, or possessions offended the plaintiff.
C.The plaintiff’s attorney must show evidence that the plaintiff lost his or her job or was denied another type of employment opportunity.
D.All of the above
E.None of the above
Answer: B—It does not matter whether the harasser intends to harass; all that matters is that the other person or persons are offended by the behavior, words, or graphic item. The court is concerned with the impact of the behavior, not with the intent of the behavior. Also, a person’s job or position doesn’t have to be threatened for a hostile work environment to exist.
8.When working with suppliers and vendors, which of the following could potentially be considered unethical behavior?
A.The employee receives a rebate on a home computer system if she engages that supplier for the purpose of supplying the company’s computer needs.
B.The employee receives a free cruise vacation if he signs a contract with a relocation services vendor.
C.The employee engages his brother-in-law as a company consultant without comparing pricing or services of comparable consultants.
D.Both A and B
E.All of the above
Answer: E—All of the above. Employees should refrain from accepting substantial gifts from vendors. They should also refrain from retaining relatives as vendors or suppliers, or at least disclose the relationship to senior management or to the company’s legal department.
9.Which of the following statements is true?
A.If an employee submits to a sexual situation, then harassment definitely has not taken place.
B.If an employer is not aware of a sexual harassment situation, then the employer is not liable for it.
C.If the sexual harassment situation takes place at a location away from the work facility, the employer is not liable for it.
D.None of the above
Answer: D—None of the above. A) An employee may feel pressured and then submit to a sexual situation to keep his or her job, but sexual harassment has still taken place. B) The court holds an employer liable for a sexual harassment situation even if the employer was not aware of the situation. C) As one example, if the sexual harassment behavior occurs during a business trip between two employees, the employer still retains liability.
10.Which of the following behaviors is ethical?
A.Making copies of a vendor’s copyrighted material as long as it will be used only for internal training purposes.
B.Making copies of a software package for coworkers if they need the software to do their job.
C.Offering customers a discount if they order a package of products rather than purchasing products singularly.
D.Discussing aspects of your own compensation package with another employee.
Answer: C—It is an ethical and normal business practice to offer a discount for products that are packaged together or purchased in bulk. A) It is never ethical or legal to make copies of copyrighted materials for use within the organization; this is equal to stealing the vendor’s intellectual property. B) The company must purchase either a software package for each employee or a license agreement that specifies (and charges a fee for) a number of users for the software. D) It is never appropriate to discuss any aspect of your compensation package with another employee.
11.Which of the following behaviors is ethical?
A.Taking your company laptop home to work on your e-mail messages.
B.Using the company’s e-mail system to sell your Avon products.
C.Accessing Internet Web sites with content that might be offensive to others or sexual in nature.
D.Discussing the company’s pending acquisition with a coworker during a business flight on an airplane.
Answer: A—It is appropriate to use your company laptop to work on company business at a variety of locations, within the workplace and outside of the workplace. B) Employees should not use the workplace to sell products that are not associated with the employer. C) Accessing inappropriate Web sites in the workplace is cause for disciplinary action. D) A conversation concerning a company’s pending acquisition can be overheard on an airplane, which could affect the stock price or the acquisition itself.
12.Which of the following is an unethical question that could portray potential discrimination during an interview with a job candidate?
A.Do you have your own car to drive to and from our work facility?
B.Will you ever need to take time off from work to care for your children?
C.Would you describe yourself as having a physical handicap?
D.Both B and C
E.All of the above
Answer: E—All of the above. A) It is not appropriate to determine whether the employee owns a car to get to work; however, it may be appropriate to discuss the work hours and whether the employee would be able to work during those hours. B) It is inappropriate to refer to child care needs during an interview. C) This statement may be perceived as a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). It is appropriate to discuss the essential job functions and ask all candidates for the position if they would be willing and able to perform these job functions.
13.Which of the following behaviors would be considered gross misconduct?
A.Carrying a firearm onto the company property.
B.Threatening to assault another employee.
C.Illegal drug usage.
D.All of the above
Answer: D—All of the above
14.Which of the following is not a legal and ethical interview question?
A.The position you are applying for is a second shift position. Would you be able to work the hours of 3 p.m. to 10 p.m.?
B.Where are you from originally?
C.Are you legally authorized to work in the United States?
D.What other companies are you interviewing with?
Answer: B—Asking this question can be perceived as fishing for information about the candidate’s national origin. The Civil Rights Act makes it unlawful to discriminate based on national origin.
15.Which of the following is unethical or potentially illegal use of the company’s computer systems?
A.Intentionally forwarding an e-mail message with an attachment containing a computer virus.
B.Forwarding chain e-mail letters to other employees using the company’s e-mail system.
C.Intentionally deleting company documents or programs on individual computers, on servers, or on networks.
D.All of the above
Answer: D—All of the above are definitely unethical or are violations of federal, state, or local law.
16.If an employee reports a sexual harassment situation but asks you not to do anything about it, what should you do?
A.Tell the employee that you will not report the situation but that he or she should come back to you immediately if the problem is not resolved.
B.Tell the employee that the situation will not be reported, but instead a sexual harassment policy will be reissued companywide and sexual harassment training will take place.
C.Explain that you are obligated to report the situation so an investigation can take place, but that the investigation and information about the situation will be confidential, on a need-to-know basis.
D.Conduct the investigation yourself to prevent rumors from starting in the company, and to alleviate the concerns of the employee.
Answer: C—As a manager, you are obligated to report the situation to your human resource representative to allow an investigation of the claim.
17.Which of the following is unethical behavior with a vendor or supplier?
A.Asking the vendor or supplier for tickets to an upcoming concert because you know they are the audiovisual crew for the event.
B.Accepting money from a vendor or supplier.
C.Asking a vendor to come into the company to demonstrate their product, even though you aren’t sure if you want to purchase the product.
D.Both A and B
E.All of the above
Answer: D—Both A and B are inappropriate behaviors. An employee should never solicit a vendor gift, and accepting money from a vendor is never ethical. Answer C is a perfectly appropriate request, because a demonstration can help the company decide whether they want to purchase a vendor’s product.
18.Which of the following factors should be considered before accepting a gift from a vendor to ensure acceptance of the gift would be ethical?
A.Does the cost of the gift exceed my company’s limit for unsolicited gifts from vendors?
B.Could my acceptance of this gift cause me to feel obligated to purchase products or services from this vendor?
C.Would I enjoy using this gift?
D.Both A and B
E.All of the above
Answer: D—Both A and B are ethical issues to be considered before accepting a gift from a vendor.
19.Which of the following people might be considered to have inside information that should not be used to influence stock purchase decisions?
A.A sales employee who is involved in obtaining a new, significant client with the business potential to double the company’s revenue in the next two years.
B.A cocktail server who overhears a conversation between two business executives about a multi-billion-dollar company merger that has not been made public yet.
C.The CEO’s spouse who is aware that the company’s financial results, which are about to be released, are not as high as the company projected to shareholders.
D.All of the above
Answer: D—All of the above. Anyone who gains access to significant information about the organization that has not yet been announced to the public is a potential insider. Insiders do not have to be employees of the company. If the information you learn (that has not been made public yet) causes you to want to either buy or sell stock in the company, then the potential for violating insider trading laws exists.
20.Which of the following behaviors has (have) the potential to create a hostile work environment?
A.One manager in the company requests sexual favors of an employee in exchange for a promotion.
B.Racial slurs are heard frequently in the company.
C.Many of the employees in the company have screen savers depicting sexual situations or scantily clothed models.
D.Both A and B
E.Both B and C
Answer: E—Both B and C. A) This is an example of quid pro quo sexual harassment, but it is not an example of a hostile work environment. A hostile work environment is characterized by “frequent and pervasive” harassment. B) A hostile work environment does not pertain only to sexual harassment; it can also pertain to racial harassment, age harassment, or national origin harassment. C) Harassment can occur in the form of visual items that are degrading or sexual in nature.
©McGraw-Hill 2002.