Employed students: ethical and legal issues in the technical communication classroom

When students are also corporate employees, unique ethical and legal problems can arise in a technical communication classroom. To help instructors and employed students understand their situation, I review in this article several major approaches to normative ethics and define various legal terms. Next, I analyze two classroom incidents from the ethical and legal points of view. Finally, I provide guidelines that may help instructors address or forestall the potential consequences of classroom activities involving employed students.