Likely only because they saw the writing on the wall that there would be serious consequences, as the details of the situation were leaking out to the public.

Likely only because they saw the writing on the wall that there would be serious consequences, as the details of the situation were leaking out to the public. Prior to that, I would suspect they were actively complicit with the status quo. It's not like managers have some innate moral superiority to their subordinates. If anything, quite the opposite....