At the other extreme, back during the Carter administration, my employer wanted to be politically correct, and one Monday morning we all came in to a downright chilly office. (Minnesota in winter.) When I went to adjust the thermostat, I saw a tape "seal" on it over a small setscrew that had been installed to prevent moving the temperature over 65. Which gets rather chilly if you have a desk job.
Every desk also had a note on it with a lot of frak about saving energy and warnings against space heaters, heating pads, etc. ("Du is't kold, un you vill REMAIN kold!")
After about a half hour, not being French, I decided to do something about it. A razor blade allowed me to scrape off the tape seal without damaging it and access the setscrew, so I could have a decently warm office. Now, my manager (a former Hitler Youth - I kid you not!) walked in and frowned, but didn't stop me. And an hour later, teeth chattering, he came in and asked me to fix the thermostat in HIS office.
![grin =D](http://www.armedpolitesociety.com/Smileys/default/grin.gif)
By mid-week, most thermostats in the labs were restored to full functionality - management never commented again.