You've Got to Be Kidding!: How to Keep Your Job Without Losing Your Integrity

Loyalty Is Almost Always Personal

Susan shared a similar story with me; unfortunately, hers had a tragic ending. Several years ago, Susan had worked in the credit department of a well-known department store and had observed her boss open the cash register and take one of the large bills on several occasions. What was even worse was that he commonly blamed one of his employees for the theft and, consequently, fired the individual. Susan stayed below the radar and never said anything because she did not want to “jeopardize my own job.” Finally, the “big boss” called her into his office and inquired if she had ever witnessed any such behavior on the part of her boss, and she reluctantly revealed her observances. Her boss was fired, his wife divorced him, and he moved to another state. Susan learned a few months later that he had been hospitalized with depression and ultimately took his own life.

Tears welled up in Susan’s eyes as she told me, “Nan, had I known what would happen to him, I never would have said anything.” I knew exactly how she felt. Susan knew logically that she was not responsible for her boss’s suicide; she also knew his thievery would have probably been discovered eventually, even without her testimony. Emotionally, however, she struggled for a long time with “the guilt of being a part of his demise.” And it only added to her self-inflicted guilt that she also wondered if she had reported his stealing earlier, he might have been able to receive the counseling he ...