Insubordination is the act of a subordinate deliberately disobeying a lawful order . Insubordination is typically a punishable offence in hierarchical organizations which depend on people lower in the chain of command to do as they are told. Insubordination is not the same as foot-dragging , displaying a negative attitude , voicing complaints, or refusing to perform an action that is not safe, ethical, or legal.

The concept of insubordination is most often associated with military organizations as military organizations have a chain of command and lawful orders given by a superior officer are expected to be carried out by the person to whom the order is given. However other heavily hierarchical organizations use insubordination as a reason for dismissal of an employee.

The penalty for insubordination in military organizations can range from dishonorable discharge, incarceration for a term of years, to capital punishment. The penalty varies depending on the type of infraction, the circumstances, and the culture of the military force. In modern Western armed forces, the penalty tends to be dishonarable discharge and/or a prison term. In other circumstances such as the German or Russian armies on the Eastern Front during World War II, the penalty tended to be an immediate execution. Selim I killed two army officers after he took power charging them with insubordination.

In the modern workplace in the Western world, the organizational culture is usually sufficiently relaxed and unmilitary so that the issue of insubordination rarely arises. The power relationships in the modern workplace are less obvious and are sometimes inverted when employees with special and essential skills are so valuable to the organization that what would be considered insubordination years ago is overlooked or at least no overt action is taken.

There have been a number of court cases which have involved charges of insubordination from the employer with counter charges of infringement of First Amendment rights from the employee. A number of these cases have reached the U.S. Supreme Court usually involving a conflict between an institution of higher education and a faculty member.

There have been a number of famous and infamous people who have committed insubordination or publicly objected to an organizational practice.

• Douglas MacAuthur - US General who was relieved of command by President Harry S. Truman during the Korean Conflict.
• Jackie Robinson - US baseball player was accused of insubordination while in the military but was exonerated at a court martial.
• Howard Zinn - historian who was fired for insubordination
• Albert Pike - charged by the Confederate Army with insubordination
• George Grosz - soldier in German Army, World War I, and artist
• Eugene Debs - labor organizer and member of Socialist Party
• Jeffrey Wigand - VP of Brown & Williamson who revealed tobacco industry practices
• Billy Mitchell - famous aviator, United States Army Air Corp commander during World War II and proponent of air power during the interwar years

See also:

• Fronde
• mutiny
• criticism
• due process, Fourteenth Amendment, and First Amendment
• Espionage and Sedition Acts
• whistle blower

Court cases involving insubordination:

• Rendell-Baker v. Kohn , 457 U.S. 830 (1982 US Supreme Court)
• Schenck v. United States, 249 U.S. 47 (1919 US Supreme Court)
• Perry v. Sindermann, 408 U.S. 593