The Association for Talent Development’s Code of Ethics states that training professionals should strive to recognize the rights and dignities of each individual. Understanding how diverse others think, learn, and behave, and imparting this knowledge to trainees, is consistent with that section of the ethical code. The intersection of ethics and the law illustrates how many ethical norms have been written into employment law to protect employees from all types of discrimination.

The law, as we know, lags behind ethics in many areas, and as such, there are issues on which the law has not yet spoken. While the law informs much of our workplace activities around discrimination, when the law is silent on these issues, we must turn to ethics to guide our decisions. If we think about applying ethical theories to the challenges of how to work with diverse others in the workplace, across the board it is ethical, or just, to ensure all employees are treated fairly.

Some may apply utilitarianism (greatest good for the greatest amount of people), some universalism (universal law to ensure intention to treat people fairly), and others consider theories of justice and fairness. A society that does not treat all employees fairly despite their differences would not be ethical.