Baystate Medical Center in Massachusetts adopted a policy requiring all employee

Question

Baystate Medical Center in Massachusetts adopted a policy requiring all employees to either get a flu shot or wear a facemask over their nose and mouth while on duty. Clarke refused the vaccination on the basis of her religious beliefs. When she failed to wear a mask, she was suspended.

Who are the stakeholders in this situation? What are the health and safety implications to the employee, the patients and the medical center? Did Baystate act ethically? What are the conflicting legal interests at stake? How should they be resolved?

Explanation / Answer

Stakeholders are those people who are getting affected due to the decisions. In this case, the stakeholders are employees, patients, medical centres and community ( distant stakeholders) where the employees reside. With the use of flu shots to the employees, employees will be safe from getting contaminated from the infections. So, it will creates a safety cover for them. Patients will also be saved who are not yet contaminated from the flu. Reputation of the medical center, will improve and become a safe place to work as employees will not get the infection or flu.

Baystate acted ethically, because the organization thought of the benefits of the majority and took the decision. Hence, the center applied utilitarian approach of the ethics and for the sake of benefits of the patients, employees and medical center itself, took the decisions.

Baystate has the legal interest to make a policy that brings safety to all the employees and patient as well as the organization. Though, Clarke has refused on the basis of her own legal rights given by the EEOC and civil rights act of 1964. Hence, a conflict between the two different stakeholders are created.

To resolve the issue, specific provisions should be made w.r.t. Clarke whose religious beliefs are compromised. She should be counselled, and religious views should be taken upon it and other methods of vaccination can also be used to bring safety cover the all the employees including Clarke without hurting the religious beliefs.

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