Insubordination is the act of a subordinate deliberately disobeying a lawful order from someone in charge of them. Refusing to perform an action which is unethical or illegal isn't insubordination; neither is refusing to perform an action which isn't within the scope of authority of the person issuing the order. Insubordination is typically a punishable offense in hierarchical organizations which depend on people lower in the chain of command doing as they are told. Military The concept of insub… (More on Insubordination)