As widely reported in May, the Agriprocessors kosher meatpacking company in Postville, Iowa, was raided on suspicion of employing undocumented workers. The raid resulted in the arrests of 389 illegal immigrants, about half the company’s workforce. According to the New York Times, Agriprocessors’ ex-CEO (forced to resign when the raid occurred) has been arrested for harboring illegal immigrants and abetting identity theft. The Columbus Dispatch reports that he’s now been arrested a second time for bank fraud. The company has filed for bankruptcy.

While there may be some reason to feel sorry for the illegals who were arrested in May, put in jail or deported, there’s no reason to feel sorry for the CEO or the company. In fact, they provide poignant lessons to employers of all kinds, their executives, and HR.

Agriprocessors and its chieftons were either arrogant or stupid or both. They not only hired large numbers of illegal immigrants, they paid wages well below industry standards, didn’t pay overtime, and were constantly fighting with governmental agencies over alleged wage-hour, labor and safety violations. They might as well have erected a billboard daring anyone to make them comply with the law. As difficult as it may be to do sometimes, it’s ususally best to maintain a spirit of cooperation when dealing with government agencies.

Apparently feeling immune from ethical or legal standards, when the company got word that a raid was imminent, the CEO and at least two supervisors and one HR manager actively tried to obtain fraudulent documents that could pass immigration agents’ scrutiny. They “loaned” employees almost $5,000 to pay for fake documents. Both supervisors and the HR manager have pled guilty to criminal immigration charges and probably face jail time. The CEO’s fate is yet undecided, but the fact that his bail was set at $1 million and he faces up to 22 years in prison if convicted of all charges indicates the severity of the matter.

It’s easy to say that it’s crazy to let this kind of situation develp. But it did develop. It involved real people who now wish they had done, what in hindsight, was not only the right thing but what anyone with any common sense would have done. Although the raid in question occurred before the economy tanked, the kind of economy we have now makes insane, not to mention illegal, decisions more likely to happen. When panic sets in, some people do crazy things. If you’re in HR and the CEO or some other big wig tells you to do something illegal (and crazy), go ahead and decide now that it would be better to lose your job than to go to jail.