A NYT article today describes new zero-tolerance policies of some investment banking firms in the area of ethics.  Similar to Boeing firing Stonecipher for having a consensual affair, other instances of unethical but not illegal behavior are getting employees fired in this new environment.  One example involves two BofA employees, Eric Corrigan and Thomas Chen, who contacted Capital One after hearing in confidence that Capital One was in merger talks with Hibernia.  Mr. Chen had a relationship with someone at Capital One, and contacted him to see about getting in on the deal.  This conduct, which historically has been expected and encouraged, got them fired by BofA, who coincidentally has paid nearly $1 billion in SEC fines this year.  Ironically, if the bankers had not acted on their knowledge just months ago, they might have reprimanded for standing still.

I have no problem with ethics.  I teach Business Ethics.  But I do have a problem with hypocrisy.  I do feel for employees like Mr. Corrigan and Mr. Chen, who operate under a set of rules that is endorsed in their industry but then get caught up in a sea change that is more PR move than enlightened ethical practice.  If everyone is aware of new rules that will be applied to everyone, then by all means lets raise the ethical bar.  However, it is not moral or ethical to use unsuspecting employees as scapegoats to cleanse your image.

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