Babysitter in a bind.

• Author: Cohen, Randy
• Position: THE ETHICIST - Brief article

When I arrived to babysit for a family whose kids I adore, the mother told me her daughter was coming down with a cold. Shouldn't she have warned me in advance? I'm a student and don't have time to get sick. I stayed, but my dad says I should have left. Is he right?

Eve Rybnick, West Orange, N.J.

HE IS NOT. You did well not to leave this mother in the lurch, although she should have told you promptly about her child's health and let you decide if you wanted the job.

An employer should not significantly alter the terms of employment. But her failure to alert you to this minor malady is not enough reason to walk out on her. And there's the possibility that her child's symptoms emerged too late for the morn to make other arrangements.

Let's keep things in perspective. The daughter didn't have the plague...