Episode 4 of “As the Association Turns”: It’s Ethics Awareness Month!

Cecilia Sepp, CAE, ACNP, LPEC

Author’s note: I serve on the ASAE Ethics Committee and as part of our work for Ethics Awareness Month in March, I created a five-part soap opera series for promotion of the Committee’s work. You can find the series in the ASAE Ethics Collaborate community. 

Episode 4: The Anxious Accountant

Bradley Hughes is the Chief Financial Officer at SOAP. He has served in this role for 3 years and receives consistently positive reviews. The staff feel he is approachable despite his sometimes awkward social skills. As an introvert, it can be difficult for Bradley to express himself, especially in pressured situations. 

Today was not a good day for Bradley. He had an intense conversation with board member Max Mayhem – more of an angry monologue than two way communication – about an expense reimbursement Max submitted. When Bradley reviewed the expense reimbursement request, alarm bells went off in his head. Max wanted reimbursement for $350.00 for alcoholic beverages at an informal networking event. 

According to the SOAP expense reimbursement policy, alcoholic beverages cannot be submitted for reimbursement. This applied to all official SOAP events, staff travel per diem, and board member travel per diem. The only alcoholic beverages allowed are the ones paid for by SOAP at receptions or other events with food and drink. No one is allowed to purchase alcohol and request reimbursement. 

But Max Mayhem argued that he was representing SOAP at an “official” event and many of the drinks he purchased were for other event attendees. Bradley tried to explain calmly that it was an informal event and not sponsored in any way by SOAP. All the expense reimbursement policies state that this is not a covered expense. 

Bradley didn’t think that Max could get even angrier but he did. Max started cursing at Bradley and threatened to have him fired. Max noted that as a Board member he has influence over who is hired into C-Suite positions so unless Bradley wants to lose his job, he better give him the $350.00. 

Bradley was beginning to hyperventilate. He is not a person comfortable with conflict; he often tried to go unnoticed so he would not have to deal with any confrontations. When he thought about his wife and 3 kids, and what would happen to them if he lost his job, he began to panic. The economy is slow and it would be difficult if not impossible to get another CFO job. Despite his best efforts to manage his personal finances well, he and his wife were in debt. Three kids are expensive on their own, and when you add in all the other expenses of daily living, Bradley knew he couldn’t afford to lose his job. 

But he could lose his job if he violated the expense reimbursement policy. Anastasia would be angry and disappointed if she found out he gave in to Max. What impact would that have on this employment at SOAP?

Will Max bully Bradley into giving him his money? Will Bradley do it and then try to hide it? Will Bradley’s kids be able to get braces?? Will Anastasia fire Bradley? 

What would you do in Bradley’s place? 

Tune in next week for our final episode - Episode 5: The Distressed Chief Elected Officer