Ethics Heroes

September 2008 Ethics Heroes

Paul Newman

Paul Newman was an ethical actor. There are few things rarer.

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Marsha Bartel

On Christmas Day, NBC fired Marsha Bartel, an award-winning producer with 21 years at the network, after she refused to be involved with "To Catch a Predator," the hit segment that is frequently a feature on “Dateline.” Her reason was ethics: Bartel had many of the same objections to the show that The Ethics Scoreboard has expressed: it involves the network in law enforcement and law enforcement in entertainment, it exploits sad people for ratings, sometimes at the price of losing a conviction, and is built on lies. Bartel stood on principle, and NBC’s response was to fire her. This time, however, the resulting lawsuit failed. The court ruled that as an employee-at-will, Bartel served at the pleasure of her employers, and “wrongful termination” had no meaning in this set of facts.

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August 2008 Ethics Heroes

San Diego Padres Outfielder Brian Giles

The absence of Barry Bonds from the baseball scene has limited the opportunities for baseball writers to remind us how ethically-challenged they are, but when they get an opening, they sure run with it. Thus Brian Giles, an outfielder for the miserable San Diego Padres, was attacked by many scribes when he exercised a clause in his contract to block a pennant stretch trade to the Boston Red Sox, a team in a close race for a division title and a strong World Series contender, when the deal would have put an extra 2 million dollars in his pocket.

Why did Giles refuse to go? The outfielder likes playing and living in San Diego, where he grew up, and would prefer to end his career there. His family is in San Diego, and happy. And he is a starting player for the Padres, losers that they are, while he would be only a part-time performer with the deeper and more talented Red Sox. Sounds reasonable…admirable, even. Doesn’t Giles' choice seem like a completely defensible decision, showing that this is one professional athlete who has his priorities in order?

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July 2008 Ethics Heroes

Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr.

The Rev. Jesse Jackson set off a series of ethics events when his comments accusing Barack Obama of “talking down to black people” and expressing a desire to “cut his nuts off” were captured by an open microphone.

...the most interesting ethics issue by far was raised when the most vociferous criticism of Jackson’s words came from…his son, Representative Jesse Jackson, Jr. Congressman Jackson was swift out of the box with this statement...

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June 2008 Ethics Heroes

LA Angels Manager Mike Scioscia

Leaders have primary obligations to the best interests of the organizations, groups, governmental units or nations they lead, and secondary obligations to the individuals under their command. This is Leadership 101, but it is sometimes the hardest lesson to master. The people he or she leads are essential to the long term success of any leader at meeting the expectations and aspirations of the entity being led. Leaders must have loyalty from followers, which requires that followers trust and respect their leaders. What does a leader do, then, when serving the group means abandoning a loyal follower?

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Jockey Kent Desormeaux

Big Brown trainer Rick Dutrow dropped the proverbial "other shoe" on jockey Kent Desormeaux when he accused him of running a bad race on Triple Crown favorite Big Brown in the Belmont Stakes. Desormeaux had to know he would be blamed when he eased up on his mount in the race, guaranteeing the only last place finish by a winner of the previous two legs of racing's Triple Crown.

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May 2008 Ethics Heroes

Mark MacKinnon

He may be confused. He may be in the wrong business. But former John McCain advisor and media consultant Mark MacKinnon is no ruthless, soulless mercenary, willing to work for the election of whomever pays his salary, capable of destroying his own mother with rumor and innuendo if that's what it takes to achieve victory. Once it became obvious that Barack Obama was going to be McCain's opponent, MacKinnon followed through on a promise he made last year that he would not campaign against the Illinois Senator.

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Me - Sort of

Perhaps "reluctant hero" is more apt. When one spends his time lecturing others on ethics, there are times when being the ethics exemplar is less instinct than unavoidable necessity.

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