Excesses of responsibility? Reconsidering company liability
Excesses of responsibility? Reconsidering company liability
Tullberg J.Journal of Business Ethics, March 2006, Vol. 64 No. 1, Start Page: 69, No. of pages: 13
Purpose – To suggest that a halt be called to the broad and expanding responsibility of organizations to provide compensation (in court, companies are fined increasing amounts for an ever wider range of faults) and to argue that a discussion about where the responsibility of the citizen/consumer begins and ends is overdue. Design/methodology/approach – Describes three cases of corporate liability, compensation for breast implants, the tobacco issue, and asbestos claims, to illustrate how company responsibility is being ever more expanded. Considers possible reasons for the present trend of increasing payments: sympathy, the “tyranny of small steps”, the no-win, no-fee rule, the phenomenon of “jurisdiction shopping” and the influence of insurance companies. Explores the ethical thinking that is influencing perceived duties to compensate, looking in particular at “sympathy with the weak”or “compassion” ethics, and suggests that the connection between litigation and common ideas of justice and responsibility is actually getting weaker even as litigation itself increases. Examines the implications of the“victim-sentimental ethos”, concluding that “at the end of all transfers, it is not the government, nor the insurance companies or other companies, but the working citizen that pays the bill of excessive transfers”. Presents what is described as a “portrait” of an alternative, “narrow”corporate responsibility, and applies this approach to compensatory and punitive liability. Originality/value – Highlights the urgent need for a general,widespread, but “difficult” discussion about judgements of fairness,about which ethical rules are most useful, about the common good, and about the principle that individuals have to take a prime responsibility for their own lives.ISSN: 0167-4544Reference: 35AK088
Keywords: Compensation, Ethics, Liability, Responsibilities
