What's After The End of The Line?

In a recent Weekly Ethics Thought, I said, 

"Should you become aware of an ethics concern that does not require being reported due to legal or organizational mandates, the first thing to do is to diplomatically discuss the matter with the individual(s) about whose behavior you are concerned. If that takes care of the problem, you have discharged your ethical duty in all but the rarest cases.

But what if that doesn't take care of the problem? To whom are you going to go next? Not knowing the answer to that question does not excuse a lack of follow-up! You must find out to whom you need to speak and then do so.

For starters, everybody in your organization has an immediate supervisor and they will likely be the best person with whom to discuss your concerns. Should your concerns not be taken seriously by the supervisor, though, that person has a supervisor as well to whom you can go. Feel like you can't take it to a supervisor for some reason? Then take it to your HR or Compliance department if you have one. No HR or Compliance department because your business is too small? Take it to the owner.

There will always be someone to whom to bring your concerns. You may or may not like their response or plan of action but your duty is discharged when you have appropriately notified the proper person.

Should your concerns be about a matter requiring a formal report because of either a legal or organizational mandate, that mandate will always specify a course of action including providing you the proper contact person(s) to whom to bring your concerns. In addition, any legal mandates will usually specify whom to contact outside of your organization should your concerns not be appropriately addressed internally. Be sure to know with whom you need to speak about which types of ethics problems or concerns. Rightly or wrongly, not doing so will almost inevitably result in your sharing a portion of the ethical culpability.”

I was alarmed by how many readers emailed me to describe ethical or legal concerns they had reported all the way up the chain of command only to be ignored or rebuffed at every step. One person was in the process of resigning because of their frustration and wish not to be associated with the kinds of behavior being shown by their employer.

A common question was what the next step needs to be when you have exhausted the chain of command in these situations. The answer is that, though there aren’t a lot of choices, there are certainly still some:

1.)          Inform corporate counsel if there is one.

2.)          Inform internal or external auditors if the issue is financial.

3.)          Inform law enforcement if the actions you see are illegal.

4.)          Decide if you can stay knowing that critical issues are being ignored. (There is not ever an absolutely right or wrong answer to this question, however. You need to let a combination of your conscience, your gut, and your mind come to the best agreement they reasonably can.)

In the meantime, though, what remains the most important thing is to assure that you have, in fact, clearly reported your observations and concerns to the appropriate parties.

Have you been in a situation where you have taken your concerns all the way up the line and met a complete lack of concern or never gotten a reasonable response? I’d be interested in what your experiences have been. Let me know – as well as whether or not I am free to cite your situation as an example in my programs or here on the Ethics Nexus blog. I would obviously do so without identifying either you or your organization. Thanks!