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The film ‘Erin Brokovich’ is a true to life story that portrays how a struggling single mother, desperate to have an income and works in a law firm by accident, uncover numerous violation of a certain company called Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) that lead to several unwanted health conditions within the community of Hinkley. The film showcased how Eric became interested with some of the information she learned while working as a clerk and volunteered to conduct her investigation. Erin, not a lawyer herself, visited many residents of Hinkley and won her trust to support her to fight the company PG&E. Apparently, while digging into the case; she discovered that the groundwater in the community contains carcinogenic hexavalent chromium that potentially causes the unfortunate conditions of the member of the community of Hinkley. She found many cases of tumors, cancers, gastro intestinal problems, miscarriage and headaches linked to the chemical and, seemingly, the treatment for this people came from the doctor of PG&E. The battle between Erin and the company became very controversial and that towards the end of all her tussle, the judge commanded that the PG&E pay the people of Hinkley with $333 million divided among the plaintiffs.
While this movie became a hit, it is but important to highlight several ethical issues that the film illustrated. Primarily, the film showed how the use of illegal chemical harmed the environment and the human beings. Its presence in the water that people took and use on their daily lives impaired their body and eventually experienced several types of medical conditions. Obviously, the company PG&E, despite the fact that it is aware of the presence of these chemicals in the water, opted to continue with their business activities and chose to become blind of its effect to the community of Hinkley. Another unethical issue highlighted in the movie was the noticeable bribery between PG&E and the people of Hinkley. PG&E tried buying one of the plaintiffs from the community with $250,000 to decline any prospective and future charges against the company. The daughter of the plaintiff experience poor health all her life and have been fighting cancer, possibly cause by the harmful substance used by PG&E. Buying out the people involved and who have experienced lifetime dilemma with their health is an obvious irresponsible action towards a huge company like PG&E. The fact that the company also commissioned doctors to visit the community of Hinkley and informed the people that their health is not related to the substance is totally immoral. From this act alone, another ethical issue that portrayed how negligent the company is dishonesty. PG&E is well aware that their huge business resulted to producing huge amount of delicate chemicals that can affect not only the people but also the environment. Despite of having this knowledge and awareness, the company chose to become blind and continue their operation and did not perform any preventive actions to stop the horrible effect of the substance. PG&E made the people think that their children are safe by swimming through the pools, and it is safe to drink the water within the community and those that is coming out of their faucets.
