Article April 14, 2008 Issue

THE REAL MISTAKE WAS LYING ABOUT IT

BY JODIE SWALES

I was faced with an ethical dilemma: Is honesty always the best policy? And this one had a particualrly personal twist: Should I lie to protect my husband's job?

My husband, Rob, and I had been working together for nearly a year and a half. I was responsible for overseeing his work. One day, we got an e-mail from a furious client — Rob had made an error in his work, and I hadn't noticed it. We had to let our boss know what had happened, but I was sure if I told her it was Rob's mistake, she would fire him.

Although I've always been an honest person, this time I panicked. Instead of being honest, I told my boss that I'd made the mistake. Rob went along with this because he thought I would be in trouble for not discovering the error. He was trying to protect me! My boss was supportive, but I felt guilty about lying to her. I even began to feel ill.