Crossing the Line: Ordinary People Commi ...

In 2003, Aaron Beam and Weston Smith, both former chief financial officers (CFOs) of HealthSouth, found themselves in the middle of one of the largest reported healthcare financial scandals in United States corporate history.  HealthSouth used aggressive accounting methods to boost its financial statements.  In response to rising pressure to meet Wall Street earnings expectations, the CFOs felt internal management pressure to "cook the books.”  As a result, members of HealthSouth's finance team created fake journal entries in order to boost company revenue. By the time the fraud was discovered, more than $3.8 billion of fake revenue had been created. 

While both Aaron and Weston felt uneasy about the crimes they were committing, they strongly believed that they were doing what was right for the company.  They rationalized their behavior by believing they were preserving existing jobs, creating new jobs, and increasing the overall company's stock price. These are common rationalizations for pro-organizational employee crimes. Ultimately, Weston blew the whistle to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and served 14 months in a federal prison camp for his role in the accounting fraud.

The case of HealthSouth illustrates the motivations behind and consequences of pro-organizational crimes. Pro-organizational crimes include activities such as accounting fraud as well as unethical behavior including exaggerating the benefits of a company's products to customers. Employees may participate in these acts to advance their company's reputation and financial goals.

Caption 4: Aaron Beam and Weston Smith talk about working at HealthSouth.