HR announces a termination. Publicly. The employee responds with a letter describing pressure, blocked access, deleted messages. Leadership stays silent.
Externally — "a planned HR decision." Internally — a public execution masked as management action.
The organization creates a dangerous precedent: power is used not to manage the system, but to suppress within it. Signals from witnesses are ignored. Transparency is replaced by silence.
This isn't just an ethics violation. It's erosion of trust — invisible, but strategically destructive. When the system can't process abuse of power, it starts normalizing humiliation.
The Mechanics
No system to review decisions. No neutral party to escalate to. When HR becomes an instrument of pressure instead of protection, there's nowhere to go.
HR function transforms from employee advocate to enforcement arm. The department meant to protect becomes the weapon.
Witnesses stay quiet. Obvious misconduct becomes "uncomfortable topic." The system's silence signals permission to continue.
System Health
An organization where human dignity can be "disabled" along with a laptop cannot be resilient in crisis.
Watch for these markers: public announcements of "performance issues" that are actually personal conflicts. Immediate access revocation before conversation. Leadership silence when allegations surface.
The message to everyone watching: compliance matters more than dignity. This destroys psychological safety faster than any policy violation.
defines who stays on the way in.