Ah... the Nuremberg Defense - "I was only following orders."  To some degree we have to do what we are told when we work for someone else.  However, I can certainly understand why people are upset with you personally.  If I understand the facts correctly, I think you went beyond what was appropriate in the circumstances.  When asked about the negative posts regarding payments, you actually defended the company.  You said that those were from "disgruntled abstractors," giving the impression that the company would pay. You even asked for a positive review after the bill was paid.

You could have simply been honest.  You could have said that accounts payable was not your department and you didn't have any control over that side of things.  Of course, you may not have gotten the abstractor to do your work, but it would have made it easier to sleep at night.

I think you crossed a line.  I would consider your behavior to be unethical.  You represented that the claims of non-payment were false and that the abstractor would be paid.  It certainly seems that was not the case.  You should have investigated those complaints with your accounts payable department and told them that you are having trouble lining up new abstractors because they aren't paying them. 

Instead, you kept roping abstractors in to a situation where they were going to do work for you in good faith, based on your representations that they would be paid.  Those were your representations, and I think you share in the responsibility for their troubles.

Best,
Robert A. Franco
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