I quit a job for moral reasons after nearly two years because it took that long for me to realize that it wasn’t actually at all cool to work at an insurance company defending businesses that gave their employees mesothelioma (among many other types of claims).
It sounds obvious when you say it like that, but it took a while for me to realize that when the defense and plaintiff’s attorneys are all good friends with each other and with the mediators involved, there’s not actually much of a check on them negotiating multiple cases in conjunction (I’ll come down to $5k for smith and jones each, but I can’t settle Simmons for less than $200k).
When I witnessed that, I told my boss, who was horrified, until he realized that they weren’t billing that conversation to multiple claims, and then he didn’t see the issue. My management had always been very vocally in favor of paying what we owed, not trying to minimize our payments, but as long as the breach of ethics wasn’t “coming from our side,” they were perfectly happy to take advantage of it.
I’m very much not proud of this, but I think I could have continued believing that I was helping the real victims who had yet to come forward by saving the coverage reserves in the cases that were in front of me (through actively defending them and haggling during the negotiation of settlements, not through any funny business of my own) indefinitely, had I not witnessed that conversation or received such a blasé response from my company.
Reminds of those people who work for lockheed martin knowing full well tha tthat. company’s executives and workers are happily partaking in the genocide of the Palestinians
And of those who dont conscientiously object their IOF service…
To be entirely fair, I had a pretty privileged position*, so I had the luxury to act in accordance with my morals once I realized I wasn’t. I don’t know that I would have been able to convince myself to quit if I were living paycheck to paycheck trying to support a family.
*Looking back, I was absolutely in a privileged position, but that was mostly due to me earning between $50-60k/year in a HCOL area at that role (and $35-40k for a few years beforehand, all within the last decade) and not having kids or student loans. That’s fucked up.
I was making six figures doing web development for a bank. My life began to fall apart and I quit. I wish I could say it was an entirely morally motivated decision, but it was mostly me beginning to realize I was burned out. Still, I quit without hesitation and I don’t regret it. My boss said we had to come in to the office for tax purposes, basically. She called it “funny money.”
People are not pawns to be pushed across the board.
So I was also privileged. I’ve been coasting on savings since quitting, but the money is running low and the AI bubble has yet to burst. I may get a fast food job to survive for now, but my sights are set on ecological work. I want to give back to the planet and do more to build a better future instead of taking all I can get. I wish my whole life had gone differently. I wish I hadn’t fallen for the bait at all.
Thank you for sharing your experiences. We have much to learn.
I also wanted to do some good, so I went back to get my masters in Germany and now I teach new immigrants the language. It’s so much easier to live with myself and I very much recommend it. Plus, we really need more good people in ecology work, they’ve currently got a hell of a heavy load. Good luck!
I quit a job for moral reasons after nearly two years because it took that long for me to realize that it wasn’t actually at all cool to work at an insurance company defending businesses that gave their employees mesothelioma (among many other types of claims).
It sounds obvious when you say it like that, but it took a while for me to realize that when the defense and plaintiff’s attorneys are all good friends with each other and with the mediators involved, there’s not actually much of a check on them negotiating multiple cases in conjunction (I’ll come down to $5k for smith and jones each, but I can’t settle Simmons for less than $200k).
When I witnessed that, I told my boss, who was horrified, until he realized that they weren’t billing that conversation to multiple claims, and then he didn’t see the issue. My management had always been very vocally in favor of paying what we owed, not trying to minimize our payments, but as long as the breach of ethics wasn’t “coming from our side,” they were perfectly happy to take advantage of it.
I’m very much not proud of this, but I think I could have continued believing that I was helping the real victims who had yet to come forward by saving the coverage reserves in the cases that were in front of me (through actively defending them and haggling during the negotiation of settlements, not through any funny business of my own) indefinitely, had I not witnessed that conversation or received such a blasé response from my company.
Thank you for using your heart.
Reminds of those people who work for lockheed martin knowing full well tha tthat. company’s executives and workers are happily partaking in the genocide of the Palestinians
And of those who dont conscientiously object their IOF service…
Thank you for caring. Too many people are willing to harm others for pay as long as they can distance themselves from the consequences.
To be entirely fair, I had a pretty privileged position*, so I had the luxury to act in accordance with my morals once I realized I wasn’t. I don’t know that I would have been able to convince myself to quit if I were living paycheck to paycheck trying to support a family.
*Looking back, I was absolutely in a privileged position, but that was mostly due to me earning between $50-60k/year in a HCOL area at that role (and $35-40k for a few years beforehand, all within the last decade) and not having kids or student loans. That’s fucked up.
I was making six figures doing web development for a bank. My life began to fall apart and I quit. I wish I could say it was an entirely morally motivated decision, but it was mostly me beginning to realize I was burned out. Still, I quit without hesitation and I don’t regret it. My boss said we had to come in to the office for tax purposes, basically. She called it “funny money.”
People are not pawns to be pushed across the board.
So I was also privileged. I’ve been coasting on savings since quitting, but the money is running low and the AI bubble has yet to burst. I may get a fast food job to survive for now, but my sights are set on ecological work. I want to give back to the planet and do more to build a better future instead of taking all I can get. I wish my whole life had gone differently. I wish I hadn’t fallen for the bait at all.
Thank you for sharing your experiences. We have much to learn.
I also wanted to do some good, so I went back to get my masters in Germany and now I teach new immigrants the language. It’s so much easier to live with myself and I very much recommend it. Plus, we really need more good people in ecology work, they’ve currently got a hell of a heavy load. Good luck!
Amazing. 🙂 Learning a new language can unlock so many options. Thank you, and good luck!