In the DuPont Case, a substantial amount of ethical violations took place. When one compares this case to BSPS Code of Ethics, it is clear that the organization bypassed many established codes of conduct. Although DuPont was not initially certain that the C8 they were exposing their employees to was the most significant cause of the birth defects, they had great reason to suspect as such and continued to expose their employees to this condition. Throughout this process, one of the clear violations of the BSPS Code of Ethics was that the company was not “honest, fair, and impartial” (BSPS Code of Ethics). Specifically, the organization secretly began monitoring and surveying its patient population in relation to the potential that the C8 was causing substantial health issues in the patient population. Even worse, when DuPont’s medical doctor warned that the organization should inform its employees of the associated risks, the company, “didn’t inform its workers of these developments, much less take additional safety precautions” (Blake, 2016). Of course, such a failure to its employees is in direct contradiction of the ethics manual’s claim that organizations have an “obligation to advise employers, clients, employees, the public, and appropriate authorities of danger and unacceptable risks to people, the environment, or property” (BSPS Code of Ethics). It appears that the DuPont executives and management were motivated to make the decisions they made partially out of business decisions. For instance, the organization decided to take action at one point because it wouldn’t reduce the company’s liability. Additionally, the management team believed that through taking the actions it did, it would be able to avoid a regulatory crackdown. Similarly, they appeared to have been engaged in a cover-up operation that, like an ever complex Ponzi-scheme, kept snowballing until it reached epic proportions and damaged the lives of a tremendous amount of people. Ultimately, such a case attests to the substantial amount of danger that can occur what organizations do not follow an ethical code or view social responsibility as a critical enterprise.
References
Blake, M. (2016). A Toxic Chemical Ruined The Lives Of These People — And It’s Probably In
BSPS Code of Ethics
