Many professionals who experience ethical misconduct in the workplace quietly leave their company, doing their best not to burn any bridges. This course of action is understandable, but assembling opposition and engaging the issue can prevent misconduct from recurring.
As a senior member of the Wharton School faculty, I have noticed a new pattern emerging from discussions with students in my required MBA course on law, ethics and responsibility. More of them are telling stories about quitting their last jobs (including plum positions at some of the most prestigious firms in the world) to escape toxic bosses and work cultures they felt powerless to change. This has come up often enough that I now have a name for these students: ethics refugees.
Many followed a simple motto: “stay silent and stay safe.” They kept their experiences carefully hidden from their former employers on their way out. Why? They did not want to create any unnecessary obstacles that might complicate the escape route they had so carefully planned. Indeed, some remained silent because they were counting on letters of recommendation from the very people who had bullied them or pressured them to break the rules. Listening to their stories, I have come to appreciate what corporate ethics and compliance…
