Political pressure, or business incentive?

A former Huron Consulting Group executive, Richard Pimentel, has filed an employment-bias complaint against the firm, claiming that he was let go partly because he refused to donate to Mitt Romney's presidential campaign, after repeated requests from Huron CEO Gary Holdren. Huron officials deny the charge, but do confirm that Holdren sent out appeals for staff to donate to the campaign.

In the emails, Holdren repeatedly claims that donating to the candidate is a great way to bring in business. In September, he wrote that a contribution to the Romney campaign "is some of the best practice-development money Huron could spend." Other emails promised to reward consultants with "business for your contributions." The firm claims that such requests are common in American companies, and at one point, Holdren reasoned, "This is just business and the way business works." According to Federal Election Commission records, Romney received at least $92,000 from Huron executives.

Have any of you faced a similar situation? Do you feel that it's fair for a CEO to put employees in this position? When it comes to politics, is business really just business?