ethical violation
Professional conduct lapse
An ethical violation is an action that breaks moral principles or professional standards of conduct.
The phrase appears most often in institutional contexts—medicine, law, business, academia—where codes of ethics govern behavior: The lawyer faced disbarment for ethical violations.
Unlike legal violations, ethical violations may not break laws but breach trust or professional duties: Accepting gifts from vendors was an ethical violation of company policy.
- professional misconductEthics breach at work
- misconductImproper professional behavior
- wrongdoingUnethical or illegal action
- breachBreaking of agreement
- breach of trustViolation of confidence
transgression · code of conduct · malpractice · corruption · bad actor · dishonesty · fraud · betrayal · scandal · cover-up · whistleblower · thrown under the bus · complaint · under investigation · investigation · sanction · discipline · slap on the wrist
- work problemslayoff, firing, low pay, burnout, deadline pressure
- official misconductmalfeasance, misconduct, misfeasance, nonfeasance, dereliction
ethical violationethical conduct
Morally principled behavior
ethical behavior · moral rectitude · doing the right thing · integrity · right action
ethical violationcompliance
Adhering to requirements
adherence · conformity · rule-following · best practice · due diligence
ethical violationprofessional integrity
Adherence to occupational principles
best practices · due diligence · professional conduct · standard of care · good standing
ethical, ethically, ethics, ethic, unethical, violation, violate, violates, violated