MikeLogan

Would have replied sooner, but my boss flips out even if I do 3 minutes of online banking.

I'll concur that in general practice, yield to and cooperate with the authority involved. I never suggested the willful or cowardly ignoring of anything, only the use of discretion in reporting the incident. What I will suggest, is that short of a life-or-death moment, the default approach of removing oneself from responsibility for action, and relinquishing the ability and basic human right of making a decision is the true Blind Eye.

I've worked for both public and private institutions, and I can tell you I would more likely have reported a potential transgression such as the one described when I was a federal employee, for that would be in the entire nation's interest. But I am not going to possibly ruin someone else's career opportunities to protect some commercial endeavour. Not at the drop of a hat, anyway.

One funny thing I just realized. There are plenty positions across the pay scale where I work, and if an employee were found sleeping they would have a lot of trouble keeping their jobs. Maybe you were off the clock, you were still using company property for personal reasons.

One person's "oops, my mistake" can be seen by another as grounds for termination.

When one looks for wrong done, they find it. How ironic a title for this thread.