** Accepted for Poster Presentation **
We study the proposition that directors on boards of firms involved in corporate social
responsibility controversies incur reputational penalties in the labor market for board members.
We find evidence of such reputational penalties among both affiliated and outside board
members. Independent directors lose more seats when they also depart the controversy firm’s
board, and among their other directorships, they tend to lose seats in larger firms. Among inside
directors, losses are more significant for those directors who stay on the controversy firm’s board.
a