>"Shit" that happens at low levels is still shit, even if it's not company policy coming from the top.

In some cases, it can be worse. If something happens at a low level that is unambiguously bad and no one at the top does anything about it despite knowing about it, then to the public, it's as if upper-management is condoning the behavior.

Case in point: the Redskins practicing human trafficking with no strong public denouncement from the team's front office.