Culture vs. Counter-Culture

I had an experience at work yesterday that I think illustrates very clearly the clash between culture and counter-culture as it relates to ethics. Yesterday was payday and our paychecks/statements are in sealed envelopes with the employee's name and address on them. I carelessly selected the wrong envelope and opened it up. I immediately realized that I had accidentally opened the envelope of a coworker and informed my supervisor who told me to inform the coworker. When I explained what had happened to my coworker she became indignant insisting that "this is unacceptable". She informed the human resources department and eventually my coworker and I had a meeting with our supervisor and the department manager. At the conclusion of the meeting my coworker's feelings had been soothed and we all went on with our work. What is obvious to me when I look back on the situation is that psychology (feelings) was the driver here. I come to that conclusion because no investigation was conducted and therefore no rules, regulations or laws were consulted. If the situation had been handled philosophically (intellect) the situation would have "played-out" very differently. An investigation would have been conducted and would have concluded two things: 1. Other than opening the envelope, I did nothing wrong and 2. No further action (including meetings) was required. If my coworker and the chain-of-command had approached the situation from an ethics/justice perspective we would have settled/resolved the matter permanently instead of putting and "emotional lid" on the matter. The way things stand now my coworker is satisfied only until the next time that she decides something is "unacceptable" and throws another temper tantrum.
Location: Pasadena, CA, USA

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