[toyg]

> that move would be seen, at the very least, as somewhat rude.

In a few places I worked at, this was just par for the course. It's all in the (corporate) game.

As much as decent, polite, and courteous people do exist (and I try to be one of them), it's a fact of life that assholes exist, and they often prosper on the back of such decent people.