《如果虐待數十隻倉鼠的不是學生，而是你的員工？》 What If the Person Accused of Abusing Dozens of Hamsters Were Not a Student, but Your Employee?
《如果虐待數十隻倉鼠的不是學生，而是你的員工？》
What If the Person Accused of Abusing Dozens of Hamsters Were Not a Student, but Your Employee?
《當暴力指向弱小生命》系列
When Violence Targets the Vulnerable
企業篇｜當動物虐待成為企業治理問題
Corporate Governance Series | When Animal Cruelty Becomes a Corporate Governance Issue
當一名大學生涉及嚴重動物虐待爭議，我們首先想到的通常是：學校如何處分？動保法能否處理？生命教育出了什麼問題？
但我更想問下一個問題：
如果有一天，他畢業了呢？
When a university student becomes involved in a serious animal cruelty controversy, the first questions usually concern the university, animal protection laws, and failures in humane education.
But I want to ask what comes next:
What happens when that student graduates?
學生終究會離開校園。有人繼續攻讀研究所，有人進入科技業、金融業、研究機構或上市櫃公司。
到了那一天，問題便從「校園如何處理學生」，轉變成另一個更現實的問題：
如果虐待數十隻倉鼠的不是學生，而是你的員工，公司會怎麼辦？
Students eventually leave campus. Some pursue graduate degrees; others enter technology companies, financial institutions, research organizations, or publicly listed corporations.
At that point, the question shifts from how a university should deal with a student to a much more practical issue:
What if the person accused of abusing dozens of hamsters were not a student, but your employee? What would your company do?
這已經不只是動物保護議題。
而是一道企業治理題。
This is no longer solely an animal welfare issue.
It is a corporate governance issue.
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企業聘用的，從來不只是一張學歷
Companies Hire More Than Academic Credentials
企業重視名校學歷、專業能力與工作經驗，這很正常。
但成熟的企業招募人才，不會只問：
「這個人能力好不好？」
還必須問：
「這個人適不適合被放在這個位置？」
Companies naturally value academic credentials, professional competence, and experience.
But responsible recruitment cannot stop at asking:
“Is this person capable?”
It must also ask:
“Is this person suitable for this particular position?”
這就是職務適格性。
尤其當工作涉及動物、兒少、病患、長者、實驗環境、敏感資料、公共安全或其他高度信任資源時，企業本來就可能需要更嚴格的風險評估。
This is a question of occupational suitability.
Where a position involves animals, children, patients, elderly people, laboratory environments, sensitive information, public safety, or other positions of significant trust, a higher level of risk assessment may be justified.
因此真正的問題並不是：
「曾涉及動物虐待爭議的人是不是永遠不能工作？」
而是：
重大、反覆或高度暴力性的過往行為，在什麼情況下，可以成為特定職務合理的風險評估因素？
The real question is therefore not:
“Should someone previously involved in an animal cruelty controversy never be allowed to work again?”
Instead, we should ask:
Under what circumstances can a history of serious, repeated, or highly violent conduct legitimately become relevant to the risk assessment of a particular role?
這才是HR、法務與企業治理真正應該討論的問題。
That is the question HR professionals, legal teams, and corporate leaders should be discussing.
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沒有刑事判決，不代表企業沒有風險
No Criminal Conviction Does Not Mean No Corporate Risk
司法與企業處理的是不同問題。
法院處理犯罪、證據與法律責任；企業面對的則包括員工管理、職務風險、組織文化、品牌信任與企業聲譽。
Courts and corporations address fundamentally different questions.
Courts determine criminal liability, evaluate evidence, and apply the law. Companies must manage employees, occupational risk, organizational culture, brand trust, and corporate reputation.
假設某家公司錄取一名員工。半年後，他過去涉及重大動物虐待的影像重新在社群大量流傳。
消費者開始留言，公司信箱收到陳情，合作夥伴要求說明，媒體致電詢問。
Suppose a company hires an employee. Six months later, material concerning that employee’s past alleged involvement in serious animal cruelty begins circulating widely online.
Consumers begin asking questions. The company receives complaints. Business partners request explanations. Journalists start calling.
如果這家公司同時在官網寫著「ESG」、「永續」、「尊重生命」與「企業社會責任」，問題就會更加尖銳：
公司還能只用一句「這是員工私人行為」回答嗎？
If the same company publicly promotes ESG, sustainability, respect for life, and corporate social responsibility, the contradiction becomes much harder to ignore:
Can the company simply respond, “This is the employee’s private conduct and has nothing to do with us”?
當事件開始影響客戶、合作夥伴、員工、品牌甚至投資人時，它就可能從私人爭議轉化成企業風險。
一支影片，可能同時走進HR、法務、公關、ESG與CEO辦公室。
再嚴重一點，它甚至可能走進董事會。
Once a controversy begins affecting customers, employees, business partners, brand reputation, or investors, a private matter can evolve into a corporate risk.
A single video can quickly reach HR, Legal, Communications, ESG, and the CEO’s office.
If the consequences become sufficiently material, it may eventually reach the boardroom.
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企業不能迎合網路私刑，也不能假裝沒有風險
Companies Must Reject Online Vigilantism — Without Ignoring Risk
這裡有一條非常重要的界線。
反對動物虐待，不代表企業可以因為網路群眾憤怒，就任意拒絕錄用、調查或解僱一個人。
There is an important boundary here.
Opposing animal cruelty does not mean a company may arbitrarily refuse employment, investigate, discipline, or dismiss someone simply because social media users demand it.
勞動權益、個人資料、背景查核與資訊使用都有法律界線；網路指控也不能未經查證便直接視為事實。
企業不是法院，HR也不是檢察官。
Employment rights, personal data protection, background checks, and the use of publicly available information all have legal boundaries. Online allegations must not automatically be treated as established facts.
A company is not a court, and HR is not a prosecutor.
但另一個極端同樣危險：
「只要沒有被判刑，公司就完全不用管。」
The opposite extreme is equally problematic:
“If there is no criminal conviction, the company has nothing to consider.”
現代企業每天都在處理法律責任以外的風險。
高階主管失言、供應商爭議、資安事件與職場文化問題，都可能尚未構成犯罪，卻已經足以傷害企業。
Modern corporations routinely manage risks that do not amount to criminal conduct.
Executive misconduct, supplier controversies, cybersecurity incidents, and workplace culture problems may never result in criminal convictions, yet they can still cause substantial corporate harm.
所以成熟的做法不是建立「黑名單」。
而是建立制度。
The responsible solution is therefore not to create a blacklist.
It is to build a governance framework.
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ESG真正的考驗，不在捐款
The Real Test of ESG Is Not Charitable Giving
現在許多企業都談ESG。
但真正的企業責任，不是一年捐多少錢、辦多少公益活動。
真正的考驗，往往發生在價值開始產生成本的那一刻。
Many companies now speak extensively about ESG.
But corporate responsibility is not measured simply by annual donations or the number of charitable campaigns a company sponsors.
The real test comes when corporate values begin to carry a cost.
當品牌價值與營收衝突，公司怎麼選？
當供應商涉及嚴重動物虐待，公司還要不要合作？
當員工的重大私人爭議開始傷害品牌信任，公司有沒有處理程序？
What happens when brand values conflict with revenue?
What happens when a supplier becomes implicated in serious animal cruelty?
What happens when an employee’s serious off-duty controversy begins damaging public trust in the company?
如果官網寫著「尊重生命」，真正發生事件時卻完全沒有制度，那麼ESG就很容易只剩下漂亮的文案。
If a corporate website promises “respect for life,” but the company has no governance mechanism when such an issue actually arises, ESG risks becoming little more than corporate messaging.
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最後，把問題交給企業
The Final Question Belongs to Corporate Leaders
有一天，一份履歷來到你的公司。
學歷很好、專業很好、面試表現也很好。
但在合法且適當的程序中，你得知這個人過去曾涉及重大、反覆且引發高度公共爭議的動物虐待事件。
One day, a résumé arrives at your company.
The candidate has excellent academic credentials, strong professional skills, and performs exceptionally well in the interview.
But through a lawful and appropriate process, the company learns that the candidate was previously involved in a serious, repeated, and highly publicized animal cruelty controversy.
你會怎麼做？
直接拒絕？
完全忽略？
進一步查證？
評估與職務之間的關聯？
交由HR與法務共同判斷？
What would you do?
Reject the candidate immediately?
Ignore the information entirely?
Verify the facts?
Assess whether the conduct is relevant to the position?
Ask HR and Legal to conduct a structured review?
如果已經錄取，而事件突然重新爆發呢？
當消費者開始抵制、合作夥伴要求說明、媒體致電，甚至投資人開始詢問時——
你會發現，這早已不是一道「愛不愛動物」的題目。
而是一道企業治理題。
And what if the person has already been hired when the controversy suddenly resurfaces?
When consumers begin boycotting, business partners demand answers, journalists call, and investors start asking questions, the issue is no longer simply about whether someone “cares about animals.”
It has become a corporate governance issue.
法律處理的是責任。
企業處理的是風險。
The law determines liability.
Companies must manage risk.
我不主張企業取代法院，也不主張以網路輿論決定任何人的職涯。
但成熟的企業不能只問：
「他有沒有違法？」
I do not believe corporations should replace courts, nor should online outrage determine a person’s entire professional future.
But a mature company cannot ask only:
“Was the law broken?”
它還必須問：
「這件事與職務有什麼關係？」
「它是否與公司的價值承諾衝突？」
以及最現實的一題：
「這是不是公司願意承擔的風險？」
It must also ask:
“How is this conduct relevant to the role?”
“Does it conflict with the values we publicly claim to uphold?”
And, ultimately:
“Is this a risk our company is prepared to accept?”
當暴力指向無法為自己發聲的弱小生命，法律必須回答法律的問題。
而當事件有一天走出校園、走進職場——
企業，也必須回答自己的問題。
When violence is directed at vulnerable lives that cannot speak for themselves, the law must answer the questions that belong to the law.
But when that controversy eventually leaves the campus and enters the workplace—
下一篇預告｜Next Article
《員工下班後虐待動物，公司真的完全沒有關係嗎？》
If an Employee Abuses Animals Off Duty, Is It Really None of the Company’s Business?
當私人行為開始傷害企業信任，界線究竟在哪裡？
When Private Conduct Begins to Damage Corporate Trust, Where Should the Line Be Drawn?
corporations must answer their own questions, too.
