And that's the flaw of the article. The author would not have known the broker was an asshole until they actually started working with them. Sure you can decid

And that's the flaw of the article. The author would not have known the broker was an asshole until they actually started working with them. Sure you can decide to back out sooner, but then you still worked with the asshole if only for a short while. The real problem is how to identify the asshole, which isn't much of a moral tale but a matter of experience and competence in screening people and attracting good people.