Johnson Controls instituted to be fair to employees who are fertile but plan to have no children. The reason that I take this stance is because whether you are fertile or not, it should be a person’s own choice whether or not to work in a harmful working environment. Evidence shows that women are not the only the ones that were affected by the tiny toxic particles and lead oxide. “In March 1991 the United States Supreme Court ruled unanimously that the fetal protection policy at Johnson Controls violated the Civil Rights act of 1964, which prohibited sex discrimination in employment. Pointing to evidence that lead affects sperm and can thus harm the offspring of men exposed to it at the time of conception”7. Johnson Controls’ fetal protection policy is an invasion of privacy. Potential employees should be made aware of the possible dangers when working with lead at the initial job interview. The employer has no right to ask whether or not they are thinking about having a child. Johnson Controls should be looking for a way that they can make the working environment safe for both men and women to work. Joseph Kinney, executive director of the National Safe Workplace Institute said, “ the ideal thing is to regulate lead out of the workplace and any other toxin that poses fetal damage”8. Johnson Controls is an example of a company that is willing to risk the lives of its employees to make a profit. Johnson Controls has a moral and ethical obligation to its employees to control and limit the risk involved when working with lead. Both men and women run a risk of passing lead on to the unfertilized ovum. Johnson Controls is controlling who is subjected to the lead purely for monetary reasons. Johnson Controls chooses to employ men because it minimizes the amount of times they will be sued. It is a numbers game. Johnson Controls is aware of the risk of working with lead, weighe...
