10 Worst Admirals In Star Trek
8. Haftel - The Offspring
Haftel is an entry who is closer to Ross in how we view him. While he is certainly nowhere near as villainous as some of the others on this list, he is nonetheless charged with taking Data's daughter away for study - despite Data having previously been judged sentient by a Starfleet court.
While he makes the argument that the need to study Lal is more important than leaving her to roam the Enterprise, it is in direct opposition to Philippa Louvier's ruling from the previous year. It is perhaps one of the earliest examples, in The Next Generation at least, of Starfleet tweaking the rules to suit themselves.
Though Haftel bears no responsibility for Lal's shut down and deactivation, he certainly didn't make life any easier for her, Data, or even Captain Picard - who threatened to throw his entire career away to protect Data's rights. That this was the last we ever saw of him only compounds this, ensuring no redemption for this character. Sure, he offered to help in any way that he could while Lal was in shutdown. But, it's all well and good trying to clean the room after you've already broken the pipes - everything else is just grasping at saving face.