Ethics defines the society in terms of what is wrong or right. There are concepts that each individual in the society identifies with when relating to other people. The decisions that people make in the society may have positive or negative consequences. This has led to the development of laws to regulate the outcomes of people’s decisions. The law thus ensures that people keep a sane mind when performing various duties. People are forced to evaluate the outcomes of their actions before they perform the intended action.
Martha violates various aspects of the agreement that she made with Bob. She chooses to destroy Bob’s reputation at the Toronto Builders and Real Estate Association. This goes against the ethical code of conduct since she is consciously taking the wrong approach in solving the issue at hand. She does this knowing that it will have negative consequences on Bob’s career. In legal terms, the approach that Martha takes is against the professional code of conduct in Toronto. Martha lets personal issues cloud her judgement. This is not right according to the professionalism act in Toronto.
In respect of the actions that Martha takes against Bob, she is liable to the law. First, the fact that she chooses to give false information about Bob greatly infringes on his professional reputation. Martha is also answerable since the agreement on referral fee payment was not documented and thus it was legally void. This leads to the conclusion that she might have been demanding a bribe from Bob. These are the legal obligations that Martha would be required to answer as per the legal violations she had made. In accordance with the Toronto business agreement laws, Martha was not legally entitled to any form of payment from Bob. This limited her when it came to making demands that Bob should pay his dues according to their agreement. Making false accusations against Bob is incorrect since there are legal limitations on how she should have handled the issue. She might also be held accountable since she will be required to prove her allegations against bob. Legally, the allegations will be subject to proof which Martha cannot provide. This is because she wrongly accused Bob and the truth will be determined through the legal process.
The consequence theory of ethical reasoning best explains Martha’s behavior towards Bob. The theory states that one should always strive to promote good consequences over bad ones to ensure that there is harmony and good relations in the society. Martha did not propagate this theory, but acted in contradiction. There were negative consequences that arose from her actions. Martha did not act ethically in relation to the negative effects that her actions would have on Bob. Instead of acting on her emotions and frustrations, Martha should have first approached Bob with the issue. This would have enabled her to know Bob’s stand on the promise he had made to her and given her a direction on the right action to take.