Work may get done, but is oftentimes simply out of one's own desire for personal advancement or fear losing a job, instead of being out of duty or alignment with the company mission or, at the very least, public/customer service.  Such employees are not aligned with truth nor duty, and are devoid of personal integrity and thus inherently untrustworthy, much less worth employing.  Expansion of an area around such individuals is certainly an invitation for disaster.  Such employees tend to bait others (naive co-workers who would otherwise shine) into an us vs. them, or  victim/perpetrator role.  This is ultimately a contest between haves and have-nots which is constructed by the troublesome employee, and is often done so with covert pious innocence-- the "woe is me" cry.

Their goodness and moral superiority is dramatized by the supposed victim in order to lure other sympathizers. It becomes akin to a child's game played against parents or teachers.

But  the invitation into this game is what is dangerous and needs to be quahsed swiftly upon first recognition by the aggressive manager.  While such a manager may be acutely unpopular or misunderstood, the prosperity or viability of a company depends on such forthrightness and decisive action.  Failure to rid an organiztion of propaganda-spreading employees will ultimately lead to organizational failure to thrive.

The apologizing manager is equally a liability.  Ignorance nor weakness is no defense in the realm of survival.  To a predatorial or opportunistic employee, the naive "get what they deserve."

Honesty and personal integirty are necessary in business at all levels.  This does not mean "group hugs", "hearts and flowers", agreeing with employees, "being nice",  or some pseudo-saintly persona made-for-TV worship.  It is quite simply the courage to confront and uphold a standard of ethics for the purpose of survival with a sense of duty, calling a spade a spade, while acting decisively with full intention, unapologetically and without reservation.

Good managers execute and uphold ethics for the sake of the betterment of the organization