April 1999
In February’s Ethics Moment, a fire chief asked a subordinate to mislead federal disaster officials about damages at one of the city’s fire stations, damages which had occurred before a tropical storm passed through the community. The subordinate, Chuck, who was facing an annual evaluation and knew that the chief used evaluations to reward loyalty and punish those who did not follow his wishes, needed a good evaluation in order to keep up with inflation. Should Chuck lie or tell the truth about the damage at the fire station?
Chris Bosch (Chris_Bosch@kcmo.org), a Division Chief with the Kansas City, Missouri Fire Department, responded this way:
I believe that Chuck should stand behind the truth regardless of the Fire Chief’s request or the potential outcome. To mislead the federal disaster officials would be a complete breach of ethics and could cause Chuck to lose the respect of his staff and could cost him his job. Chances are that if Chuck’s Chief had any credibility at all he would never have placed one of his staff members in this position.
Chuck should attempt to discuss this issue with his Chief, clearly state his position on the issue and make it clear that he will not mislead the federal officials. Chuck should document his discussion with the Chief as well as the outcome and maintain a copy of that information for his files. Chances are that he has not heard the end of this issue. If the Chief causes Chuck to miss his annual merit increase, due to this issue, Chuck would be justified to seek counsel and allow the courts to handle the matter.