Standing Your Ground at Work: Smart Move or Suicide Mission?

April 30, 2010 — -- "Cecilia" never imagined that sticking to her principles would come at such a high price.

The Atlanta professor (who didn't want her real name used) was instructed to pass a scholarship student who'd flunked his senior thesis three times so the student could graduate and the school could collect his outstanding tuition. When Cecilia and two other faculty members refused to comply, the department chairman passed the student anyway.

Then Cecilia received a failing grade of her own:

"I was fired at the end of that quarter for challenging the authority of my department chairman and have been out of work for two years," she said.

Academics aren't the only ones who can get short shrift for standing their ground.

Last month, when a Seattle-area bank president refused to cancel a pre-planned family vacation to meet a critical financing deadline imposed by the federal government, his employer reportedly sacked him, too.

Of course, digging in your heels doesn't always lead to disastrous results. The trick, say workplace experts, is to consider the ramifications before you speak up and to choose your reaction -- and your battles -- wisely.

Let's get one thing straight: If your boss or employer asks you to commit fraud or otherwise break the law -- say by padding expense reports or turning a blind eye to falsified tax returns -- that's a battle worth waging.

You might think your job prospects are slim now, but try sending out resumes with a felony conviction on your record.

"People deceive themselves into thinking, 'It's not going to happen to me. If anything, my boss will take the blame,'" said Cheryl Palmer an executive coach based in Silver Spring, Maryland.

That may be what former WorldCom senior accounting manager Betty Vinson thought, too, before she knuckled under executive pressure to fudge the company's books, a decision that earned her a five-month prison sentence.

Yes, if you refuse to lie, cheat and steal for your boss, there's a decent chance you will be shown the door. But at least it won't be one with vertical bars.