Marco and Sam Lost Their Jobs When the Recession Hit

Marco and Sam lost their jobs when the recession hit and their company had to lay off many of its employees. However, a few workers in their department with less seniority than Marco and Sam kept their jobs. When they confronted their supervisor about this, he offered only vague answers and changed the subject quickly. Given what you know about justice in organizations, why do you think their supervisor might have behaved this way?

A) It is not standard practice for large companies to explain the reasons for laying off large numbers of lower-level employees.
B) Many managers find sharing bad news to be stressful, leading them to distance themselves rather than to explain decisions.
C) Their manager was engaging in a passive form of abusive supervision--Sam and Marco likely have a legal case.
D) Low levels of information tend to prevent wrongful termination claims because most employees just give up.
E) Honest and adequate explanations actually tend to increase retaliation responses against the organization.