Ethics Case Questions
Fat Chance Case Questions:
1) Is Sid’s weight a relevant consideration in terms of his performance in this particular job?
2) Considering each of the ethical perspectives, would a decision to not hire Sid because of his weight be an ethical one?
3) How might unconscious biases play a role and how Sid is evaluated?
Mommy-Track Backlash Case Questions:
4) How should Jessica handle the requests that Jana and Davis have made for flexible work a
angements? How should Jessica continue to handle the situation with Meagan?
5) Using equity theory, analyze how Jana and Davis might perceive a denial of their request
HBR CASE STUDV
Fat Chance
y Bronwyn Fryer and Julia Ki
y
Sid has put his hat inthe
ing for a client-serving
position. He's got the skills
andtheknowledge-
the problem is, he's also
obese. Can his weight
e a factor in the decision?
BILL HouciAN was three pages deepinto his spreadsheet when he felt the
thud, thud, thud through the rough-
hewn floor of the hallway connecting
sales and marketing with the desktop
publishing group. "Here comes Sid," he
thought.
The Seattle offices of NMO Finan-
cial Services, charmingly situated in a
quaint old building on a city wharf, were
ather sensitive to the rattle of passing
trucks-and to Sid Shawn's 400-pound
footsteps. The door to Bill's office was
open, so instead of just passing by, the
obese man stopped and looked in.
"How's it going, Sid?" Bill said. He no-
ticed that Sid's face was a bit moist; he
seemed short of
eath.
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HBR CASE STUDY • Fat Chance
"Going great," Sid replied, smiling and
giving NMO's VP of sales and marketing
a little salute. "Hey, did Te
y happen to
speak with you?"
"Uh, yes," Bill said. "She put your r̂ -
sxim^ and everything in the system. I'm
supposed to be interviewing candidates
over the next month or so."
"Te
ific," Sid said."Wel], I hope you'll
keep me in mind."
his last review he'd made it clear he was
eady for something new, so it shouldn't
have surprised Bill when Sid applied fo
the job that had just opened up.
Still, when Bill got the e-mail from
HR about Sid's interest, he was taken
aback. Sid had applied for a consultant
elations job - where his success, and
not a small portion of his compensa-
tion, would depend on impressing the
"That really fat guy?...You're kidding! How can
you even consider it? What kind of impression
would he make?"
"Sure, Sid," Bill responded, tuming to
stare at his computer screen. "I'll keep
you posted."
He's a good guy. Bill thought, as Sid
continued down the co
idor. You can't
lame him for coming by to help his
cause. Or maybe it was the deII tray that
had lured Sid down this hallway? A ven-
dor had treated the production group
to lunch that day, and there were sand-
wiches and cookies left over for the rest
of the staff. Almost as soon as that no-
tion entered his head. Bill rebuked him-
self for it. He leaned back and sighed,
not happy about the decision he would
have to make.
A ten-year veteran of NMO and a
mainstay of the pensions marketing
group, Sid had always been a good, con-
sistent worker. As a product specialist,
he was an invaluable resource to the
salespeople who called on chief invest-
ment officers, treasurers, and others
making the decisions about employee
etirement benefits for their companies.
Sid was also a resource to the consuitant
elations managers, who tried to influ-
ence the people advising those buyers.
At this point, Sid was so steeped in
NMO's products that those colleagues
had come to depend on him to outline
their talking points and pitch books.
Amiable and sometimes funny, Sid gar-
nered above-average performance re-
views and regular pay raises. But during
polished professionals at major bene-
fits consultancies. Of course, he'd im-
pressed them many times before-or his
work had while he remained behind the
scenes. But now the consultants would
encounter Sid face-to-face, and that
seemed a different matter.
A Friend Weighs In
Bill pulled his suit jacket from the
hanger on his door and took the stairs
to his friend Chuck Bell's office on the
fourth floor. Chuck, who headed up the
40i(k) sales group, was on the phone,
so Bill lingered in the hallway until he
heard the conversation end. Then he
tapped a knuckle on the doorjamb.
"Hey, Bill,"Chuck said."You don't look
so good. Something you ate?"
"Nah, I just need some fresh air. You
wanna take a walk?"
Chuck immediately stood up and
gra
ed his jacket, and they headed fo
the elevator.
A rainstorm the previous day had
cleared the sky, and the city seemed to
sparkle. As the two executives walked
together down the wharf, Bill felt less
oppressed. A pelican swooped over them,
soared into the sky, and then dove to
spear the deep blue water in a flash of
white spray.
"Can I ask you something, Chuck?"
Bill asked, watching the pelican reclaim
the air with its wriggling silver prize.
"Shoot."
"If you asked for a promotion and it
was denied, would you leave?"
Chuck's eyes widened. "You're not
hankering after that EVP title..."
" No, no," Bill insisted."This isn't about
me. It's about a guy who works in my
marketing department. He's angling
for the consultant relations job that
just opened up. He's a product special-
ist now-really good at it,too-but he's
done it for years, and he wants some-
thing new. Consultant relations, though-
that's a mtich more visible job. You
know. It's got its own demands. I'm not
sure he's ready for it."
"Why can't you just try him out on
the job? Can you get someone to work
with him, show him the ropes?"
"Well, there are...some issues," Bill
said. "He has some health problems."
"What kind of health problems?"
"He's diabetic for one thing." Bill
glanced at his friend. "See, he's over-
weight, and I think that's why-"
"Wait a minute," Chuck said. "You're
not talking about that really fat guy?"
Bill's uncomfortable silence answered
the question. Chuck threw back his head
and laughed."You're kidding! Howcan
you even consider it? What kind of im-
pression would he make for NMO?"
Bill suddenly felt protective of Sid.
"Well, I don't know. He's actually quite
personable."
"Oh, no doubt,"Chuck said, grinning.
"You'd probably have to take a cross-
town bus to get on his bad side."
Bill gave Chuck a sharp look. "He
knows the products better than just
about anyone else in my group."
"So send him over to new product
development," Chuck suggested.
"Well, he isn't going to make more
money there, is he?" Bill responded.
"He'd quit for sure."
"You think so, huh?" Chuck coun-
tered. "Who's gonna hire him?"
Growing Concerns
Back at his desk. Bill pulled out Sid's
personnel file and began thumbing
through it. His eyes fell on the
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y (jki
XXXXXXXXXX) are both senior editors at HBR.
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Fat Chance • HBR CASE STUDY
MAY 2005
HBR CASE STUDY • Fat Chance
He recalled that Sid had already been
on the heavy side when he started at
NMO but nothing like he was now. At
first, people ri
ed him about his wife's
i
esistible baking; he frequently came
to work bearing trays of chocolate chip
cot>kies to share with his colleagues. Sid
couldn't resist the cookies either; within
two years, he'd gained more than 40
pounds. At one poi nt he went on a crash
their dinner parties. That didn't seem
to happen much any more. The work-
group dynamic cried out for some kind
of intervention, however subtle. "Di-
versity training of some kind?" Bill
wondered. The thought seemed absurd
when he didn't even feel comfortable
discussing Sid's weight with Sid him-
self. Bill hated feeling so helpless as a
manager.
Sid was outgoing, always happy to strike up
a conversation. But as oid-timers ieft the group
and new hires entered, fewer and fewer peopie
seemed to warm up to him.
diet and lost a lot, but before long, he'd
egained it and more. When his wife left
him, Sid's weight ballooned.
A couple of years ago. Bill noticed
that Sid was calling in sick more. He
hadn't exceeded his allowable days,
ut this was a business in which almost
no one did. Eventually, Sid mentioned
that he was battling diabetes, which ac-
counted for at least some of the sick
time. While preparing Sid's semiannual
eview. Bill wondered whether to
oach
the subject. The precedent he had in
mind was the time he'd confronted Ron
Darcy, an NMO salesman who clearly
suffered from alcoholism. Darcy had
made his numbers and then some, but
there were signs that he was about to
derail, personally and professionally. Bill
liked to think he'd made a difference in
that man's life, awkward as It was at the
time. Still, when it came to Sid's review.
Bill decided it was a conversation that
could wait.
Since then, even more troubling than
Sid's health was the increasingly oblique
approach people at work took toward
him. Sid was outgoing, always happy to
strike up a conversation. But as old-
timers left the group and new hires en-
tered, fewer and fewer people seemed
to warm up to him. Bill recalled the days
when Sid, particularly after his divorce,
went out with colleagues after work
for drinks, and people invited him to
Just then he had a sickening thought:
If Sid were passed over for the consul-
tant relations job, could he sue the com-
pany for discrimination? He thought of
picking up the phone and calling Te
y
in HR. Then he realized that merely ask-
ing the question made him sound like
he had an issue with Sid's size - like
maybe he was the problem. He stared at
the receiver. Could he even
ing up the
subject?
The Right Fit?
A taxi was idling outside the office build-
ing, and Bill kept checking his watch.
"If we don't get going now, we'll miss
the plane," he thought. Just then, Sid
stepped off the elevator and into the
lo
y, pulling a remarkably large suit-
case and a smaller bag.
"Let's go," Bill said, holding the doo
open. Sid wheeled his bags out to the
cab. Bill climbed into the backseat be-
hind the driver. When Sid eased into the
seat on the passenger side. Bill felt the