By Filings on
Christian Living
Dave Ramsey
Workplace Ethics
Christian Workplaces

“In court documents, Ramsey Solutions said O’Connor, who is not married, was fired for having premarital sex, which violated the company’s ‘righteous living’ policy.” - C. Leaders

Discussion

Tue, 04/06/21

The company was dropped from “best workplaces” for firing someone who was pregnant out of wedlock, but also after looking the other way when another employee was divorced after having affairs. They’ve got the right to let people go for fornication, but not to be selective about how they apply the rule, in my view.

Aspiring to be a stick in the mud.

Wed, 04/07/21

To clarify: Inc dropped Ramsey’s company not because of the lawsuit but because of Ramsey’s morality code. The lawsuit just brought the morality code to public light.

Wed, 04/07/21

is the right place for a “morality code” for its employees. Church? Yes. A parachurch ministry? Yes. A for-profit financial business? For me the answer is no. He is not “god” over these people. If he wants to start a specifically Christian financial ministry (there are some out there) go for it. He didn’t He started an old fashion “bidness” and now that he has a lot of $$$ and a lot of power he thinks he can lord it over people. I think it is another example of Dave Ramsey going too far.

Wed, 04/07/21

I would think that a private business can set its own standards for employees, including a morality code, if it wishes. If someone doesn’t like it, don’t work there.

Wally Morris
Huntington, IN

Wed, 04/07/21

Just about every business has a morality code. ESPN just fired someone for violating it. The whole cancel culture is based on a morality code, often unwritten but a morality code nonetheless. As an employee you are representing the company and they have a right to expect a certain kind of representation. In most cases, those are part of an employment agreement so everyone knows going in.

Wed, 04/07/21

because they had sex you didn’t approve of is petty. How does anyone know the moral condition of anyone else. Your perfect little employee could go home at night and watch 12 hours of porn and you’d never know! Meanwhile you fire a woman who got pregnant and wasn’t married. Its just petty.

Wed, 04/07/21

My dad tells me that when he interviewed with one company after college, he was surprised when the hotel room he was in had a bar. When he called my grandmother/his mom, she told him not to touch it, because what was going on was the company was figuring out whether he was a drunk.

Really, the question is not whether or not the company has a morality code, but what it is. Adultery or fornication as a part of it? Well, that’s part of what the FBI asks about (or at least used to) for their background checks. If you’ve got sensitive information to protect, pillow talk can be a dangerous thing. The trouble from a corporate perspective is that it really winnows down your applicant pool to virgins, married people, and liars while creating a way that women can be punished while men get off scot-free.

Aspiring to be a stick in the mud.

Wed, 04/07/21

[Larry]

Just about every business has a morality code. ESPN just fired someone for violating it. The whole cancel culture is based on a morality code, often unwritten but a morality code nonetheless. As an employee you are representing the company and they have a right to expect a certain kind of representation. In most cases, those are part of an employment agreement so everyone knows going in.

Larry, agreed. My publicly-traded company has a morality code, although they call it something else. Basically, if you do anything in public or on social media that can be construed as disparaging, threatening, or offensive to a customer, associate, or supplier, you can be fired.

Wed, 04/07/21

[T Howard]
Larry wrote:

Just about every business has a morality code. ESPN just fired someone for violating it. The whole cancel culture is based on a morality code, often unwritten but a morality code nonetheless. As an employee you are representing the company and they have a right to expect a certain kind of representation. In most cases, those are part of an employment agreement so everyone knows going in.

Larry, agreed. My publicly-traded company has a morality code, although they call it something else. Basically, if you do anything in public or on social media that can be construed as disparaging, threatening, or offensive to a customer, associate, or supplier, you can be fired.

OK, does YOU having a child with someone you are not married to “disparage, threaten, or offend a customer, associate or supplier” ?

Wed, 04/07/21

[Mark_Smith] OK, does YOU having a child with someone you are not married to “disparage, threaten, or offend a customer, associate or supplier” ?

Mark, that’s not the point. The point is that a lot of businesses have morality codes, they just don’t call them that.

The reason Inc dropped Ramsey was that it disagreed with the company’s morality code (i.e. it contradicted Inc’s morality code).

Wed, 04/07/21

Most business have a “don’t make us look bad” code. That is not a morality code. NO CUSTOMER CARES how an employee got pregnant so it does not make the company look bad. By that I mean a regular business, and not a church or parachurch ministry. However, if you are trying to be “god” over your employees, you’ll fire a pregnant woman. This is flat out atrocious.

If I work for XYZ Company from 8-5 M-F, what I do from 5:01PM to 759AM is NONE OF THEIR BUSINESS!!!!! And if you run a company it should be none of your business either.

Wed, 04/07/21

[Mark_Smith]

If I work for XYZ Company from 8-5 M-F, what I do from 5:01PM to 759AM is NONE OF THEIR BUSINESS!!!!! And if you run a company it should be none of your business either.

Good luck, but that is not how it works anymore. If you go on a racist rant with someone at Walmart and it is filmed, goes viral and subsequently gets picked up by news agencies, it will most likely result in you being released by the company because it violates the companies code of conduct.

Wed, 04/07/21

[dgszweda]
Mark_Smith wrote:

If I work for XYZ Company from 8-5 M-F, what I do from 5:01PM to 759AM is NONE OF THEIR BUSINESS!!!!! And if you run a company it should be none of your business either.

Good luck, but that is not how it works anymore. If you go on a racist rant with someone at Walmart and it is filmed, goes viral and subsequently gets picked up by news agencies, it will most likely result in you being released by the company because it violates the companies code of conduct.

I am conceding that. You know what I mean. The thing is MAKING THE BUSINESS LOOK BAD, not personal morality. Putting a racist rant on Twitter, yes. Having a child out of wedlock, no. The first makes the business look bad, the second doesn’t.