A Million Little Pieces James Frey’s popular memoir stirred controversy and media attention after it was revealed to contain numerous exaggerations and fabrications. View
Abramoff: Lobbying Congress Super-lobbyist Abramoff was caught in a scheme to lobby against his own clients. Was a corrupt individual or a corrupt system – or both – to blame? View
Apple Suppliers & Labor Practices Is tech company Apple, Inc. ethically obligated to oversee the questionable working conditions of other companies further down their supply chain? View
Approaching the Presidency: Roosevelt & Taft Some presidents view their responsibilities in strictly legal terms, others according to duty. Roosevelt and Taft took two extreme approaches. View
Appropriating “Hope” Fairey’s portrait of Barack Obama raised debate over the extent to which an artist can use and modify another’s artistic work, yet still call it one’s own. View
Arctic Offshore Drilling Competing groups frame the debate over oil drilling off Alaska’s coast in varying ways depending on their environmental and economic interests. View
Banning Burkas: Freedom or Discrimination? The French law banning women from wearing burkas in public sparked debate about discrimination and freedom of religion. View
Birthing Vaccine Skepticism Wakefield published an article riddled with inaccuracies and conflicts of interest that created significant vaccine hesitancy regarding the MMR vaccine. View
Blurred Lines of Copyright Marvin Gaye’s Estate won a lawsuit against Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams for the hit song “Blurred Lines,” which had a similar feel to one of his songs. View
Bullfighting: Art or Not? Bullfighting has been a prominent cultural and artistic event for centuries, but in recent decades it has faced increasing criticism for animal rights’ abuse. View
Buying Green: Consumer Behavior Do purchasing green products, such as organic foods and electric cars, give consumers the moral license to indulge in unethical behavior? View
Cadavers in Car Safety Research Engineers at Heidelberg University insist that the use of human cadavers in car safety research is ethical because their research can save lives. View
Cheating: Atlanta’s School Scandal Teachers and administrators at Parks Middle School adjust struggling students’ test scores in an effort to save their school from closure. View
Cheney v. U.S. District Court A controversial case focuses on Justice Scalia’s personal friendship with Vice President Cheney and the possible conflict of interest it poses to the case. View
Christina Fallin: “Appropriate Culturation?” After Fallin posted a picture of herself wearing a Plain’s headdress on social media, uproar emerged over cultural appropriation and Fallin’s intentions. View
Climate Change & the Paris Deal While climate change poses many abstract problems, the actions (or inactions) of today’s populations will have tangible effects on future generations. View
Covering Female Athletes Sports Illustrated stirs controversy when their cover photo of an Olympic skier seems to focus more on her physical appearance than her athletic abilities. View
Covering Yourself? Journalists and the Bowl Championship Can news outlets covering the Bowl Championship Series fairly report sports news if their own polls were used to create the news? View
Cyber Harassment After a student defames a middle school teacher on social media, the teacher confronts the student in class and posts a video of the confrontation online. View
Defending Freedom of Tweets? Running back Rashard Mendenhall receives backlash from fans after criticizing the celebration of the assassination of Osama Bin Laden in a tweet. View
Dennis Kozlowski: Living Large Dennis Kozlowski was an effective leader for Tyco in his first few years as CEO, but eventually faced criminal charges over his use of company assets. View
Digital Downloads File-sharing program Napster sparked debate over the legal and ethical dimensions of downloading unauthorized copies of copyrighted music. View
Dr. V’s Magical Putter Journalist Caleb Hannan outed Dr. V as a trans woman, sparking debate over the ethics of Hannan’s reporting, as well its role in Dr. V’s suicide. View
Ebola & American Intervention Did the dispatch of U.S. military units to Liberia to aid in humanitarian relief during the Ebola epidemic help or hinder the process? View
Edward Snowden: Traitor or Hero? Was Edward Snowden’s release of confidential government documents ethically justifiable? View
Ethical Use of Home DNA Testing The rising popularity of at-home DNA testing kits raises questions about privacy and consumer rights. View
Flying the Confederate Flag A heated debate ensues over whether or not the Confederate flag should be removed from the South Carolina State House grounds. View
Freedom of Speech on Campus In the wake of racially motivated offenses, student protests sparked debate over the roles of free speech, deliberation, and tolerance on campus. View
Freedom vs. Duty in Clinical Social Work What should social workers do when their personal values come in conflict with the clients they are meant to serve? View
Full Disclosure: Manipulating Donors When an intern witnesses a donor making a large gift to a non-profit organization under misleading circumstances, she struggles with what to do. View
Gaming the System: The VA Scandal The Veterans Administration’s incentives were meant to spur more efficient and productive healthcare, but not all administrators complied as intended. View
German Police Battalion 101 During the Holocaust, ordinary Germans became willing killers even though they could have opted out from murdering their Jewish neighbors. View
Head Injuries & American Football Many studies have linked traumatic brain injuries and related conditions to American football, creating controversy around the safety of the sport. View
Healthcare Obligations: Personal vs. Institutional A medical doctor must make a difficult decision when informing patients of the effectiveness of flu shots while upholding institutional recommendations. View
High Stakes Testing In the wake of the No Child Left Behind Act, parents, teachers, and school administrators take different positions on how to assess student achievement. View
In-FUR-mercials: Advertising & Adoption When the Lied Animal Shelter faces a spike in animal intake, an advertising agency uses its moral imagination to increase pet adoptions. View
Krogh & the Watergate Scandal Egil Krogh was a young lawyer working for the Nixon Administration whose ethics faded from view when asked to play a part in the Watergate break-in. View
Limbaugh on Drug Addiction Radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh argued that drug abuse was a choice, not a disease. He later became addicted to painkillers. View
Meet Me at Starbucks Two black men were arrested after an employee called the police on them, prompting Starbucks to implement “racial-bias” training across all its stores. View
Myanmar Amber Buying amber could potentially fund an ethnic civil war, but refraining allows collectors to acquire important specimens that could be used for research. View
Negotiating Bankruptcy Bankruptcy lawyer Gellene successfully represented a mining company during a major reorganization, but failed to disclose potential conflicts of interest. View
Pao & Gender Bias Ellen Pao stirred debate in the venture capital and tech industries when she filed a lawsuit against her employer on grounds of gender discrimination. View
Pardoning Nixon One month after Richard Nixon resigned from the presidency, Gerald Ford made the controversial decision to issue Nixon a full pardon. View
Patient Autonomy & Informed Consent Nursing staff and family members struggle with informed consent when taking care of a patient who has been deemed legally incompetent. View
Prenatal Diagnosis & Parental Choice Debate has emerged over the ethics of prenatal diagnosis and reproductive freedom in instances where testing has revealed genetic abnormalities. View
Reporting on Robin Williams After Robin Williams took his own life, news media covered the story in great detail, leading many to argue that such reporting violated the family’s privacy. View
Responding to Child Migration An influx of children migrants posed logistical and ethical dilemmas for U.S. authorities while intensifying ongoing debate about immigration. View
Retracting Research: The Case of Chandok v. Klessig A researcher makes the difficult decision to retract a published, peer-reviewed article after the original research results cannot be reproduced. View
Sacking Social Media in College Sports In the wake of questionable social media use by college athletes, the head coach at University of South Carolina bans his players from using Twitter. View
Selling Enron Following the deregulation of electricity markets in California, private energy company Enron profited greatly, but at a dire cost. View
Snyder v. Phelps Freedom of speech was put on trial in a case involving the Westboro Baptist Church and their protesting at the funeral of U.S. Marine Matthew Snyder. View
Something Fishy at the Paralympics Rampant cheating has plagued the Paralympics over the years, compromising the credibility and sportsmanship of Paralympian athletes. View
Sports Blogs: The Wild West of Sports Journalism? Deadspin pays an anonymous source for information related to NFL star Brett Favre, sparking debate over the ethics of “checkbook journalism.” View
Stangl & the Holocaust Franz Stangl was the most effective Nazi administrator in Poland, killing nearly one million Jews at Treblinka, but he claimed he was simply following orders. View
Teaching Blackface: A Lesson on Stereotypes A teacher was put on leave for showing a blackface video during a lesson on racial segregation, sparking discussion over how to teach about stereotypes. View
The Astros’ Sign-Stealing Scandal The Houston Astros rode a wave of success, culminating in a World Series win, but it all came crashing down when their sign-stealing scheme was revealed. View
The Central Park Five Despite the indisputable and overwhelming evidence of the innocence of the Central Park Five, some involved in the case refuse to believe it. View
The CIA Leak Legal and political fallout follows from the leak of classified information that led to the identification of CIA agent Valerie Plame. View
The Collapse of Barings Bank When faced with growing losses, investment banker Nick Leeson took big risks in an attempt to get out from under the losses. He lost. View
The Costco Model How can companies promote positive treatment of employees and benefit from leading with the best practices? Costco offers a model. View
The FBI & Apple Security vs. Privacy How can tech companies and government organizations strike a balance between maintaining national security and protecting user privacy? View
The Miss Saigon Controversy When a white actor was cast for the half-French, half-Vietnamese character in the Broadway production of Miss Saigon, debate ensued. View
Therac-25 Providing radiation therapy to cancer patients, Therac-25 had malfunctions that resulted in 6 deaths. Who is accountable when technology causes harm? View
Welfare Reform The Welfare Reform Act changed how welfare operated, intensifying debate over the government’s role in supporting the poor through direct aid. View
Wells Fargo and Moral Emotions In a settlement with regulators, Wells Fargo Bank admitted that it had created as many as two million accounts for customers without their permission. View