Ryan Braun’s Suspension

Author
Britt Shirley
Region
North America
Topic
Ethics & Social Justice
Strategy & General Management
Length
5 pages
Keywords
ethics
social responsibility
CSR
Sports Management
corporate social responsibility
Copyright Holder
Journal of Case Studies
Student Price
$4.00
Target Audience
Undergraduate Students

After the Major League Baseball’s (MLB’s) 2011 season, a report surfaced that Ryan Braun of the Milwaukee Brewers had tested positive for use of performance enhancing drugs (PEDs), a violation of MLB rules. Braun claimed the results were a mistake and successfully appealed the suspension. He played the entire 2012 season without incident, but a report in 2013 indicated that MLB was considering suspending Braun and other players because of connections to a clinic that had allegedly distributed PEDs. Braun initially maintained his innocence, and he did not admit his mistakes until after MLB suspended him for the final 65 games of the 2013 season. Should Braun have admitted his mistakes after the positive test in 2011? What could he do after the 2013 suspension to negate the harm his actions caused for his teammates, MLB, and fans?

Learning Outcomes
  1. Identify ethical lapses that occur in a situation and explain which was the most serious.
  2. Identify the stakeholders affected by ethical lapses and discuss the impact(s) the ethical lapses have on them.
  3. Develop courses of action to respond to an ethical lapse and predict the impact that these actions will have on stakeholders.