Electropic LLC is a respected and profitable website design and hosting company in Colossal Corporation's technology group. Melissa Aldredge has been a project manager at Electropic LLC for several ye

Course Resource

Electropic LLC

Notice: Contains Confidential Information

Electropic LLC is a respected and profitable website design and hosting company in Colossal Corporation's technology group. Melissa Aldredge has been a project manager at Electropic LLC for several years and was recently considered for promotion to a senior project manager position. Ultimately, the promotion was awarded to another long-term employee, June Pyle. June and Melissa have a history of one-upping each other and sharing an internal rivalry within the company.

Melissa recently reported internally that she had learned that June, who was given the promotion over her, had never finished her MBA degree. All of June's business cards have "MBA" after her name, and the signature line of her email reads "June Pyle, MBA."  

Electropic LLC's policy manual states that potential employees must submit transcripts for all degrees listed on their resumes. However,  this requirement was not in place 10 years ago when June Pyle was hired. June has a history of stellar performance and was promoted not because of her MBA, but because of her consistently exemplary work. June has received excellent performance evaluations during her time at Electropic LLC, and her leadership has led to increased revenue as well as positive press for the company. Her record of success is what led to her promotion.

As a result of Melissa's report, the director of human resources sent an email to all employees who were hired prior to the policy change requiring transcript validation, asking that they provide transcripts to validate their credentials. June did not respond to the director's request for transcripts and was called into the director's office. In a very tense and tearful interview, June confessed to the director that she does not have an MBA. She admitted that she was 12 credits away from completing her degree, but when her dad got sick, she had to drop out. She said that she really needed a job to support her family and she put the MBA on her resume hoping it would help her find a job. She shared that she always intended to go back to school but became so busy with work that she didn’t have time. Once she was hired, she felt that there was no turning back and she had to keep the lie going by placing "MBA" in her email signature line and on her business cards.

An MBA was not a requirement for the assistant project specialist job June was hired for 10 years ago, but four years ago, it was made a requirement for the senior project manager position she holds now. Two of the current senior project managers do not have MBA degrees because they were promoted before this requirement was in place.

Vice President Dodger has asked you to write a memo with your recommendations on how human resources should handle this issue. June has a record of excellence with Electropic LLC, and her superiors would be unhappy to lose her; however, ethical practice and the law must be considered here as well.