A city employee discovers that a new eligibility rule for a…

A city employee discovers that a new eligibility rule for a public assistance program is unintentionally excluding a small group of residents who clearly need the assistance. The rule was adopted to make the program more consistent and prevent favoritism, and the employee is expected to follow it. However, the employee has limited discretion to approve exceptions when doing so is justified by “extraordinary circumstances.” The policy does not clearly define what qualifies as extraordinary. You are the public administrator responsible for deciding whether to approve an exception. Using utilitarianism, deontology, and virtue ethics, explain how each ethical framework would approach the decision. What would each framework identify as the most important consideration, and how might a public administrator reasonably arrive at different decisions depending on the ethical framework used?