Theme Of Ethical Issues In Erin Brockovich

While they acknowledge that they are dumping a chemical into the tap water, they lie to the residents of Hinkley by telling them that it is a different type of chromium, chromium III, that isn’t dangerous. Lying is the simplest and biggest ethical mistake there can be as it is always intentional and causes harm to the other side who believes what is being said. Not only does PG&E lie about the type of chromium being dumped, they also try to cover it up through various methods. First, they have paid the medical expenses of people in the town as a way to show that they are doing their part to help, when really this is a small expense compared with what the ethical dumping of chromium or an alternate form of chemical would consist of. Secondly, they are bribing the people with large amounts of money to buy their homes and the land they are on, which holds the dangerous chromium. Once again this is a cheaper way to hide their issue compared to the cost of having to fix their practice or losing their company. They even try to give out large amounts of money to stop the case when they know that one is being started against them. The people of Hinkley have trouble seeing past this, because of the good that PG&E does for the community overall with jobs and their economy, etc. This is an issue with Utilitarianism ethics. It is hard to see past what is good overall for the most majority of people and realize the negative effects this overall good is having for some people.

A basic view about conflict is that it is a bad and destructive. However, conflict is not something bad at all times, sometimes if a conflict’s outcome can increase group performance and improve the quality of decision, according to Organizational Behavior, it is considered as a functional conflict outcome. Conflicts can help solve problems better and increase the understanding of the team. “Remember the Titans” is seen to have a functional conflict outcome, which is why they won every game they played.

Erin Brockovich is in a car accident that is not her fault and hires attorney Ed Masry to defend her. He gave her the impression that she would be getting a good settlement, but she lost the case. She is a single mom of three, has no money and is unable to find a job. She blames him for losing the case (due to lack of preparation) and forces her way in to a job at his law firm. Because of the way she dresses and acts, nobody takes her seriously and treats her with respect. She is given a real estate pro-bono file to open involving the purchase of Donna Jensen’s home by Pacific Gas & Electric Company (PS&E). As she read through the documentation, she found it confusing that there was medical

ETHICAL ISSUE STATEMENT: Did Burlington allow one individual, Marvin Brown, to make an unethical business decision to retaliate against employee Sheila White?

Knowing that she and her family are able to survive such distressing situations without having to jeopardize their views allows her to have faith in her family's future and gives

Another corporation that operated unethically was Ford Motor Company with the production of the Ford Pinto. To compete with international competition and achieve Lee’s goal of producing the Pinto within a small time frame led to designing and manufacturing flaws. This resulted in a fuel tank design that would put the Pinto in a combustible situation should rear end accidents penetrate the poorly designed fuel tank. Realizing the design malfunction and deciding how to fix the fuel tank

The movie Erin Brockovich is based on actual events involving a corporate business called Pacific Gas & Electric who knowingly endangering the health of residents and the water supply in the town of Hinkley. Erin is the mother of three children who is out of work. In the midst of her job search she got into an auto accident and was injured. Erin has an ethical and moral responsibility to feed her children so she forces her lawyer Ed Masry to give her a secretarial job after he failed to get her a settlement from the auto accident. Erin has difficulty fitting in at the firm, the other female co-workers do not approve of her attire or her cleavage! The women in the office do not include Erin or help her out when she asks for assistance. Erin stumbles across a case file about real estate which confuses her because it contained medical records. She got curious about the case and asked permission from her boss to work on it. This is the first ethical issue that comes up because she is not a lawyer and should not investigate the case without the proper legal experience.

The potential for conflicts would consist of pointing fingers and judging without investigating. A person might already know who the employee is that started the problem and approach the person, unprofessionally. The process needs to be redefined and no one should be singled out as the culprit. Furthermore, a conflict may ignite if communication is not open. Hence, one person might feel an idea or strategy is not helpful to reach the goal. Although, good teamwork creates a positive environment. If there is a heated disagreement, it can lower the mood, and demotivate the rest of the team. However, according to Cheesebro, (2010) Conflict is healthy in certain situations, because it will bring a team together. Research has shown, employees who feel part of a strong team are happier and more productive. An acronym for team

Ethics, or moral conduct, are of major importance in the Criminal Justice field today. If the police force condoned unethical behavior, there would be very little, if any, justice being served. Official police misconduct is any “objectionable actions taken by police officers in connection with their official duties, which can lead to a miscarriage of justice”. (wikipedia.com). However, “police misconduct may include a broader range of misconduct, reflecting the high standards that we expect of police officers. Unlike official misconduct, police misconduct can apply to off-duty behavior as well as conduct on the job”. (clc.qld.gov.au).

What would I do if I was in George Nash’s position as Vice President of Real Estate at Desperate Air Corporation (a company in dire financial straits), and my pending sale of Florida property potentially had toxic waste buried beneath the surface. I found this to be the least challenging question posed thus far in terms of my own ethical beliefs. In this instance I would proceed with the sale without disclosing the information regarding what I had heard about the toxic waste. Clearly Florida law states that you do not have to disclose that there is a hazardous substance on commercial property as long as there is not a fraudulent statement about the property. Nash did his due diligence by hiring someone to do an environmental study. The

There are many ethical issues in the movie Erin Brockovich. This movie is about a mother of three who uncovers a water poisoning case by Pacific Gas & Electric Company (PG&E) in southern California. Erin has the responsibility to feed and educate her three children and she has a general distrust of people. She begins by forcing her lawyer Ed Masry to give her a secretarial job after he failed to get her a settlement from an auto accident.

An effective corporate governance regime includes prosecution for individuals who conduct unethical or illegal acts in the name of the enterprise [4]. Why so that there were no discussions in regards to the person/s responsible for dumping pollutants in the adjacent stream? Wasn’t the disposal unethical enough to violate the name of the enterprise? The management’s failure to recognize that such action ruins the reputation of the company is ineffective itself.

There was a vast number of ethical issues raised in the movie “Enron-the Smartest Guys in the Room” but the four I am going to focus on are listed below. Art Anderson, Ken Lay and all of the other executives did a number of unethical things which ultimately brought down Enron and affected thousands of employees and their futures. The bottom line was that each and every one of them acted out of greed for the almighty dollar.

Within the Gilbane Gold case, the major problem is the contribution of water pollution by dumping chemicals to speed production for Z CORP. However, there is doubt as to what extent the company violated city regulations. Tom Richards believes that Z-CORP broke regulations repeatedly but Professor Massin believes that it is not solid evidence. Part of the problem is that two different tests are involved: an older and a less sensitive test which does not break regulations but there is also the newer and more sensitive one which does. The newer test was said that the company just broke city regulations, but not by a large amount.

Conflict is inescapable, having the ability to recognize, understand, and resolve conflicts are important in both personal and professional lives. Myatt (2012) states that conflict in the workplace is unavoidable; if left unresolved, workplace conflict may result in loss of productivity and the creation of barriers that can inhibit creativity, cooperation, and collaboration. It is vital to embrace conflict and address problems through effective conflict-resolution tactics because if not handled appropriately, conflict will escalate. “If not handled properly, conflict may significantly affect employee morale, increase turnover, and even result in litigation, ultimately affecting the overall well-being of