Ethics Officers Predict Lay and Skilling Going to Jail, and Deserve It
By Steve | April 27, 2006
I have had the honor of directing The Conference Board's annual Business Ethics and Compliance Conference for the past five years. (Truth be told, the last few years my colleagues Carrie Penman and Ed Petry have done 98% of the work.)
This Conference has been held (almost) annually in New York City since 1988. This year, for the first time, we are holding two conferences: one in La Jolla ended today, and one in New York starts May 10.
At the session today, we surveyed 50 ethics officers about the trial of Jeff Skilling and Ken Lay.
94% predicted that Jeff Skilling would be convicted on at least one count, and 96% predicted that Ken Lay would be. 51% predicted a sentence for Skilling of over five years, while 68% predicted that Lay’s sentence will be over five years.
Given the mixed record in corporate prosecutions, and the complexity of the case presented to the jury, I am surprised by the high numbers. I wonder if the Ethics Officers were voting their beliefs as much as their forecasts.
98% believed that Skilling deserves to be convicted, and 100% of the 50 ethics officers surveyed believed that Lay merits conviction. We never have 100% agreeing on any issue--so this is remarkable unanimity.
The fact is, the ethics and compliance community are incredibly pissed off at Lay, Skilling, Ebbers and the other rogue business leaders of the past few years. On the one hand they have made it much easier for ethics officers to get the resources they need to do their jobs. However they have dramatically heightened the cynicisim of employees and the public about business integrity, making the task of the ethics officer almost Sisyphian in difficulty.