Recession Ethics: Dealing With Morally Bankrupt Bosses
How to stick to your values when dealing with an unethical employer.
June 25, 2009 — -- In the horror flick "Drag Me to Hell," a promotion-hungry bank loan officer denies an elderly woman who can't make her mortgage payments the extension she so desperately needs. Though the down-on-her-luck homeowner begs and pleads, the young loan officer holds firm, hoping to show her boss that she can indeed make the proverbial tough decisions.
You can probably guess where this is going: The creepy elderly woman puts a curse on the loan officer, demons begin lurking around every corner and people who were just trying to do their jobs die.
While the threat of eternal damnation doesn't enter into most workplace decisions, being asked to compromise one's values on the job is something many workers are more than familiar with -- especially during trying economic times.
Some are asked to fudge facts about their departments' achievements. Others are asked to sell out top-performing team members in the name of cutting costs. Still others are told to string along vendors who inquire about late invoice payments, rather than come clean about the company having no money to pay them.
Given the horrendous job market, workers asked to make decisions and carry out tasks they find ethically squishy may feel they have to either sell their souls or show themselves the door. But are those really their only options?
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