I saw the film "A Civil Action" which is based on a true story of a group of families living in Woburn, Massachusetts, who sue the US organizations WR Grace and JR Riley Leather. Many children have died from leukemia due to the illegal dumping of harmful chemicals by these organizations that have contaminated the water supply of Woburn residences. Anne Anderson, whose son died of leukemia, filed a lawsuit against these companies, joining the group of families who have lost their children and even loved ones. Jan Schlichtmann, a successful personal injury lawyer in Boston, takes on this case after Anne Anderson and others were rejected by many firms. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get Original Essay Jan initially rejects this case thinking that it is not financially beneficial for his company, but later agrees to take on the case while he figures out how these two parent companies WR Grace and Beatrice Foods are polluting the water. As a result, this case turns out to be very costly for a small company like Jan's, putting it into debt. He lost his wealth, his house, his car, his partners trying to win this lawsuit against these wealthy corporations. Eventually an attempt was made to settle the case with a sum of $8 million, which Anne Anderson and the others did not approve of because they received no apology from whoever was responsible and no action was taken against these companies to begin cleaning up these places for Well. I believe Jan's ethic of “care” and “justice” drives him to investigate the case further and gather evidence against JR Riley and Beatrice Foods. He later hands this case along with his old documents about it and new evidence to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) asking them to retry the case against these companies. Therefore, the case was later settled with these companies having to pay a large sum to clean up the water and land. First of all, from my point of view, one of the most immoral people I found after watching this video is Jan Schlichtmann. I think Jan Schlichtmann let his ego carry him away in an attempt to prove a point. From a utilitarianism perspective, I believe Jan Schlichtmann should have contacted the EPA in time before risking almost everything trying to win this lawsuit against these wealthy corporations. This action would have been beneficial to most of the people involved in this case along with the victim's families. I believe it was unethical of Jan to put everything on the line without first consulting his partners and customers. He should also have taken care of his companies and partners at the same time and consulted them first before refusing when Beatrice Foods offered the 25 and 20 million dollars. I think throughout the movie Jan was humiliated for not being a Harvard student and just being a personal injury lawyer and he got carried away with his pride. Because Facher dominated Jan with his cunning and carefree attitude, he was so determined to get justice for his ego. In my opinion, the humiliation got the better of him, enough to push him to fight this case risking everything he had. Even though at the beginning of the case Jan was just a money hungry person, motivated by money, eventually during this case he developed his ethics of “justice” and “caring” and fought for the case until he lost everything. But it was unethical of him to let his ego get in the way. Furthermore, I would never make any decisions without first consulting my partners and customers and it would alsovery unethical of me to put not only my company's assets on the line but also mortgage my partners' homes. I would try to resolve the case as soon as possible and then turn it over to the EPA. Therefore, from the perspective of utilitarianism, I believe that this decision would not only save Jan's company, but also provide proper justice to the victims and their family.families. Secondly, another one of the most immoral people I found after watching this movie is Mr. Granger. Mr. Granger was the truck driver for a local truck company who was hired by the J. Riley Leather Company to dump barrels of toxic solvents into the river. I believe it was unethical of Mr. Granger not to testify as an eyewitness to the trials he knew the leather company was facing. Many lives were at risk due to the negligence of these large corporations and Mr. Granger was a key witness in putting things right for the good of the community. It was unethical of him to shut his mouth about some “Celtics” tickets. His “justice” ethic was not strong enough to help this case resolve in time to the benefit of all involved. Although the J. Riley Company was the oldest surviving business in Woburn and provided employment opportunities for many, it was still neglecting its actions against environmental degradation. which later caused many victims. In my opinion, Mr. Granger was forced to prove his loyalty to them because they provided him with job opportunities and if the company closes, he will be without a job. Because of the ethic of “justice,” “care,” and utilitarianism, I would step forward if the community I live in was suffering because of this neglect. Finally, another one of the most unethical organizations that I found after watching the video is J. Riley Leather Company and Beatrice Foods. I find them to be the most immoral entities among those I am writing about because this is simply the negligence of their actions and greed for money that has cost many innocent lives. In this civil action, two large corporations are found careless in their actions in contaminating the water supply in Woburn. Their actions are unethical in terms of duty and care and have caused harm to the residents of Woburn. Their carelessness had led to a TCP chemical, a carcinogen, contaminating Woburn's water supply. The water was unsafe to drink and many children drank it and developed leukemia. As a result, the EPA filed a lawsuit against them for mishandling the waste. Therefore, it is very important to do the right thing ethically. Wrong actions might be beneficial in the beginning, but will cause great losses later. Likewise, both companies spent a large amount of money on their bad deeds and had to clean up the mess they had made in the past. Grace and Beatrice Foods were in fact guilty of such actions because what they did was clearly immoral. Also, after watching this movie I also found ethical people from my point of view who did the right thing and one of them is Mr. Love. Even though he was an employee of WR Grace, he still came forward as a witness against the company for engaging in unethical conduct. He had seen his own company's trucks dumping the toxic solvents into a pit that contaminated the water supply. He was initially in a dilemma whether to come forward to testify against his own employer, but I believe his ethic of “care”, “justice” and utilitarianism helped him make the decision. I found him ethical in thinking about his family, his community and his sense of justice. Although he worked for the company, he acted according to this ethical and moral vision and
tags