A Trusted Employee of Wilderness Tours Was Caught in the Act

question 109

Essay

A trusted employee of Wilderness Tours was caught in the act of embezzling funds. He confessed to earlier embezzlements, but retracted the confession on the advice of his attorney. Over the course of the most recent quarter, it has been determined that $20,000 was embezzled.
Wilderness Tours has suffered adverse publicity in the recent past because of serious injury to five tourists that occurred during a two week "Winter Wilds Adventure" tour. The company has therefore decided to avoid publicity and has agreed to drop all charges against the embezzling employee. In return, the employee has agreed to a notation of "Terminated-Not to be Rehired" to be appended to his personnel file.
Required:
1. Who are the stakeholders in the decision not to prosecute?
2. Was it ethical for the company to decide not to prosecute? Explain.

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Definitions:

Qualitative Research

A research strategy focusing on understanding concepts, thoughts, or experiences through in-depth collection and analysis of non-numerical data like text, audio, or video.

Ethnographic Study

A qualitative research method that involves the systematic study of people and cultures from within, through observation and participation.

Grounded Theory

A research method that involves constructing theories through systematic gathering and analysis of data, primarily used in qualitative research.

Research Designs

The overall strategy or framework for planning, conducting, and analyzing a study to answer specific research questions or test hypotheses.