ncreased its mobile communications operation both internally and through acquisitions. The company also has interests in international cellular operations (primarily in Latin America). Other operations also include participation in Bell Communications Research (BCR), which is jointly owned with the six other regional Bell holding companies. BCR provides technical and consulting services (Gibney, 1994, p. 314).
There are many areas in which a company's ethical position can come into play, but three in the case of BellSouth demonstrates its ethical position. These are the areas of employee relations, customer relations and relations with competitors/industry relations.
In 1990, a federal jury awarded a former Southern Bell Telephone Company worker one million dollars after she claimed racial harassment forced her to quit her job after 13 years of employment. This case had its roots before the divestiture since the harassment began prior to the 1984 breakup of the Bell companies, but it continued under the new operation. According to the plaintiff, Mary Ann Vance, she twice found a noose hanging from her work station in 1984 and received less than adequate training in her job. As a result of the poor training, she received less than fair disciplinary actions, and the noose incidents severely damaged her morale, despite one supervisor's comment that the nooses were designed to "increase productivity" ("Black awarded $1 million," May 28, 1990, p. 28).
This was the second time that the Vance case had been heard. The first trial was held in 1987 when Vance received $3.5 million in damages ("Southern Bell loses bias case," April 15, 1987, p. C11). This award was ruled unreasonable and excessive, and BellSouth appealed the judgment. To the extent that the award was eventually reduced, BellSouth could claim victory. However, the company was still found to be in violation of Vance's rights, and to have behaved unethically.
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