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Nikki Brown: Caught between Career and C...

Prengler, Melanie,...

Case

Nikki Brown: Caught between Career and Conscience

Prengler, Melanie; Sesia, Aldo

OB-1432 | Published February 23, 2024 | 13 pages Case

Collection: Darden School of Business

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This field-based case puts students in the role of Nikki Brown, a Black female police officer at the St. Louis County Police Department (SLCPD). After repeatedly witnessing and experiencing acts of discrimination, favoritism, harassment, and racism within the SLCPD, Brown must decide whether to file a formal complaint or remain silent. Reporting illegal, immoral, or unethical behavior within a long-entrenched US police culture could cost Brown her job. Conversely, opting for silence could mean Brown is implicitly perpetuating unethical practices that often harm other officers and citizens like herself. With the pressure mounting, which should Brown choose—her career or her conscience? This case has been taught at the Darden School of Business in the first- and second-year MBA elective “Talent Management.”’ It is ideal for graduate and executive MBA courses, especially those centered around organizational behavior; talent management or human resources; and diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Learning objectives for this case are twofold. First, students will identify a variety of strategies to foster systemic change at work. Second, students will learn how to decide whether to speak out in the workplace by identifying the risks and rewards of doing so.