SPECIAL FOCUS Shades of Grey A survey of ethical dilemmas shows that doing the right thing is not always so cut and dry. by Larry C. Christenson and Cindy McClanahan Is it okay to take an entire day off as sick time when your dentist appointment was only an hour? Do you discipline an employee who skips the last conference session of the day? Is it okay to accept a gift basket from a long-time vendor? These types of questions are timeless, as the study of virtue ethics stretches all the way back to ancient Greece. Socrates posited that people will naturally do what is good if they know what is right and that bad actions are the result of ignorance. Later, Kant argued that it was not the consequences of actions that make them right or wrong, but the motives of the person who carries out the action. Today, armchair philosophers say that ethics is doing the right thing even if nobody is watching. These KNOWLEDGE DOMAINS Human Resources in this article Perform supervisory responsibilities in a manner consistent with departmental, institutional, and legal expectations. Explain the ethical standards for housing professionals as described by ACUHO-I to all staff/employees.