Pink, White, and Blue: A Transgender Sailor, the U.S. Navy, and a Right vs. Right Ethical Dilemma

Pink, White and Blue is appropriate for undergraduate or graduate courses in management, business ethics, organizational behavior, leadership, or human resources management. Students analyze a right versus right ethical dilemma, are introduced to challenges that transgender people might experience in organizations and discuss ethical and other justifications for DEI management. The case includes epilogue and update, which provide an opportunity to discuss broader organizational issues regarding whether and how organizations should expand DEI programs. The case encourages students to critically examine their personal beliefs, attitudes, and biases about historically marginalized people. Landon Wilson, a transgender male, was a U.S. Navy sailor on a special assignment with the Army in Afghanistan. He worked as a cryptologic technician-collection specialist (CTR) collecting and analyzing top-secret data and creating special intelligence and was recognized as an excellent performer. Wilson enlisted as a female and began transitioning from female to male less than a year later, at his Navy home-base. When a special Army assignment in Afghanistan provided the opportunity, Wilson presented male. When he arrived in Afghanistan, his teammates and Army leaders accepted him as male. He was in male barracks, and his leaders and colleagues referred to him with male pronouns. At the time, Department of Defense (DoD) policy prohibited transgender people from entering the Navy and a sailor could be discharged for physical or mental conditions, including gender and identity disorders. Thousands of transgender individuals, however, successfully served in the military during the ban. Wilson was performing well in the critical assignment in Afghanistan. But then, Wilson's mentor revealed Wilson's secret to his Navy home-base leader in the U.S. The Navy home-base leader called Wilson and urged him to "come out" to his leaders in Afghanistan. Wilson had to decide if he should follow his



Navy home-base leader's advice or keep quiet and hope for the best.