I stumbled across a movie on Prime. Corporate is the title. A French movie but the ubiquitous nature of large corporations makes it easily accessible to anyone working in the corporate world.
I’m not giving much away – but spoiler alert in relation to the first five minutes of the movie – an employee who is being forced out kills himself.
The “bad guys” are the HR leaders who were pressuring him to leave. Moreover, apparently in France, there could be criminal implications for what is called “moral harassment” and involuntary manslaughter is one possible outcome.
I’m a former criminal prosecutor. So that stopped me in my tracks. How in the world could pressuring someone to quit a job be a criminal – as opposed to a civil – offense? In other words, I understand if the company was attempting to get out of paying unemployment compensation and therefore attempting to force a resignation versus firing someone. There are civil claims involved. And, of course, if there was any fraud or criminality in attempting to make someone quit, those, too, deserve criminal attention.
But if you an employer makes a job less attractive and the employee commits suicide, does that really amount to murder?
To be clear, I generally find the “inhuman” nature of corporate America to be problematic. I’m not defending the corporate ethos of cutting costs at the expense of hurting people. But…. I think of human existence and wonder why anyone would kill themselves over losing a job.
As a culture, we have over-identified with our careers and our work. I know that is “real”. And, I know that Career Counseling Connecticut has helped numerous clients overcome their mental health issues by leading them to happier work.