Problem 1: Shaw believes that companies should respect the civil liberties of their employees. But why accept this? Although Shaw does not define "civil liberty," a common definition is that civil liberty is the liberty to exercise those rights guaranteed by the country or culture in which one lives. However, like other philosophers Shaw distinguishes between what is moral and what is legal, and in chapter 1 he argued against ethical relativism. Thus, he needs to show that the civil liberties in question are not just rights that we happened to be granted by our legal system or culture, but rather that those civil liberties are ones that, morally, we ought to have. Can this be done?
Moreover, what of due process? One needs, it seems, to argue that employees have a moral right to due process, not just a legal right. Can this be done?
Problem 2: Shaw claims that a test used to measure an applicant's job skills may be both valid and reliable, but unfair. Is this true? Some people, Shaw notes, claim that intelligence tests are culturally biased, and, as a result, unfair. But why does this make the tests unfair? It would seem that what would make a test unfair is, at the very least, that it measured some skill or aptitude that was not relevant to requirements posed by the job. Is knowledge of the practices and ideals of a particular culture ever a relevant consideration in hiring decisions? Moreover, who decides what skills or aptitudes are "irrelevant to job performance"?
Problem 3: According to Shaw, while employers bear the responsibility of terminating the employment of workers who won't discharge their contractual obligation, they are also obliged to terminate workers "as painlessly as possible." But why is this true? Where does the obligation rest? One possible justification would be utilitarian; if we could perform either (but not both) of two actions in the same circumstances, and one produced less pain to everyone affected by the action than the other, then we ought to perform that action that results in the least overall pain. Is there any other possible basis for the obligation to terminate as painlessly as possible?
Problem 4: Shaw lists a number of factors that bear on the fairness of the wage that a worker is paid. How helpful are the guidelines he suggests? Can we always answer the question of whether a particular wage is fair or unfair?