DEFINITIONS

• CORPORATE CRIME IS A CRIME “COMMITTED BY A PERSON OF RESPECTABILITY AND HIGH SOCIAL

STATUS IN THE COURSE OF HIS OCCUPATION.” (CRIMINOLOGY.COM, 2014)

• SOMETIMES REFERRED TO AS WHITE COLLAR CRIME

• DEFINED BY IN 1939 BY CRIMINOLOGIST EDWIN SUTHERLAND

• CORPORATE VIOLENCE, A SUBSET OF CORPORATE CRIME, IS “THE PRODUCTION OF UNSAFE PRODUCTS

AND THE FAILURE OF CORPORATIONS TO PROVIDE A SAFE WORKING ENVIRONMENT FOR THEIR

EMPLOYEES.” (LINDA A. MOONEY, 2013)

LOVE CANAL, NIAGARA FALLS, NEW YORK

• 36 SQUARE BLOCKS OF RESIDENTIAL AREA

• BUILT ON TOP OF 21,000 TONS OF TOXIC WASTE

• INVESTIGATIONS BEGAN IN 1978, LED BY

JOURNALISTS AND HOMEOWNERS

• STATE OF EMERGENCY DECLARED BY PRESIDENT

CARTER, AUGUST 1978

• RESIDENTS RELOCATED, TOWN DEMOLISHED

THE HUMAN COST• Birth defects

• Cleft palate

• Extra digits

• Extra teeth

• Deafness

• Cancer

• Mental retardation in children

• High level of miscarriages

• Nervous disorders

• Asthma

• Low white blood cell counts

OUTCOMES

• HOOKER CHEMICAL (NOW OCCIDENTAL PETROLEUM CORPORATION) WAS SUED

• CASE TOOK 16 YEARS TO PROCESS

• SETTLEMENT REACHED ON DECEMBER 21, 1995

• COMPANY PAID $129 MILLION TO THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT

• THIS PAID BACK WHAT THE GOVERNMENT HAD SPENT TO CLEAN UP THE TOXIC

WASTE, RELOCATE THE RESIDENTS, AND BUY THEIR HOMES

• TO DATE, $20 MILLION PAID TO 1,400 RESIDENTS, LITIGATION STILL PENDING

• UNITED STATES CONGRESS PASSED THE COMPREHENSIVE ENVIRONMENTAL

RESPONSE, COMPENSATION, AND LIABILITY ACT (CERCLA)

IMPERIAL FOOD PRODUCTS FIRE

• HAMLET, NORTH CAROLINA

• SEPTEMBER 3, 1991

• FIRE DOORS WERE PADLOCKED SHUT

• INOPERABLE SPRINKLER SYSTEM

• IN 11 YEARS OF OPERATION, PLANT HAD

NEVER RECEIVED A SAFETY INSPECTION

THE HUMAN COST

• 25 EMPLOYEES PERISHED IN THE FIRE

• 55 EMPLOYEES INJURED

• LONG-STANDING HEALTH CONSEQUENCES

• RESPIRATORY DISEASE, NEUROLOGICAL DAMAGE,

PTSD

• NORTH CAROLINA’S WORST INDUSTRIAL DISASTER

• FIRE DOORS HAD BEEN PURPOSEFULLY LOCKED TO

PREVENT THEFT OF CHICKEN NUGGETS

OUTCOMES

• EMMETT J. ROE, OWNER, SURRENDERED TO AUTHORITIES MARCH 13, 1992

• SEPTEMBER 15, 1992, OWNER PLEADED GUILTY TO 25 COUNTS OF INVOLUNTARY MANSLAUGHTER

• SENTENCE OF 19 YEARS, 11 MONTHS IN PRISON

• WAS RELEASED AFTER LESS THAN 4 YEARS

• IMPERIAL FOODS WAS FINED $808,150 FOR OFFENSES SUCH AS BLOCKED DOORS, INADEQUATE EMERGENCY LIGHTING, NO

FIRE ALARMS

• HIGHEST FINE IN THE HISTORY OF NORTH CAROLINA

• A NEGATIVE CONSEQUENCE WAS LEGISLATION INTRODUCED BY INSURANCE COMPANIES LIMITING COMPENSATION AVAILABLE

TO INJURED AND KILLED WORKERS

• NORTH CAROLINA GENERAL ASSEMBLY PASSED 14 NEW WORKERS SAFETY LAWS AS A RESULT OF THIS FIRE (HAYGOOD, 2006)

VALUJET FLIGHT 592

• CRASHED INTO THE EVERGLADES SWAMP MAY 11,

1996 WHILE FLYING FROM MIAMI TO ATLANTA

• ALL PERSONS ONBOARD WERE KILLED

• CRASH CAUSED BY FIRE IN THE CARGO

DEPARTMENT DUE TO IMPROPERLY STORED CARGO

• SABRETECH VIOLATED FAA RULES OF

TRANSPORTING HAZARDOUS MATERIALS IN CARGO

HOLDS, PURPOSEFULLY MISLABELED OXYGEN

GENERATORS (NATIONAL TRANSPORT SAFETY BUREAU, 1997)

THE HUMAN COST

• THE CAPTAIN, FIRST OFFICER, THREE FLIGHT

ATTENDANTS AND ALL 105 PASSENGERS WERE

KILLED

• RECOVERY EFFORTS WERE HAMPERED BY THE

CRASH LOCATION IN THE EVERGLADES

• MEMORIAL OF 110 STONE PILLARS

REPRESENTING THE VICTIMS WAS ERECTED

NEAR THE CRASH SITE IN 1999

OUTCOMES• THE NTSB REPORT PLACED RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ACCIDENT ON THREE PARTIES:

• SABRETECH, FOR IMPROPERLY PACKAGING AND STORING HAZARDOUS MATERIALS,

• VALUJET, FOR NOT SUPERVISING SABRETECH, AND

• THE FAA, FOR NOT MANDATING SMOKE DETECTION AND FIRE SUPPRESSION SYSTEMS IN

CARGO HOLDS.

• 1997, A FEDERAL GRAND JURY INDICTED SABRETECH

• FINED $2 MILLION AND ORDERED TO PAY $9 MILLION IN RESTITUTION

• FLORIDA GRAND JURY INDICTED SABRETECH ON 110 COUNTS OF MANSLAUGHTER AND 110

COUNTS OF THIRD-DEGREE MURDER: ONE FOR EACH PERSON WHO DIED IN THE CRASH

• SABRETECH DONATED $500,000 TO AN AVIATION SAFETY GROUP AND A MIAMI-DADE COUNTY

CHARITY.

• FEBRUARY 1998, THE FAA ISSUED REVISED STANDARDS FOR FIRE SUPPRESSION SYSTEMS

CONFLICT THEORY• “CONFLICT THEORIES OF CRIME SUGGEST THAT DEVIANCE IS INEVITABLE WHENEVER TWO GROUPS HAVE DIFFERING

DEGREES OF POWER” (LINDA A. MOONEY, 2013)

• SAFETY OF THE EMPLOYEE (PROLETARIAT) COMES SECOND TO THE PROFIT OF THE COMPANY (BOURGEOIS)

• CORPORATE CRIMINALS ARE MORE LIKELY TO RECEIVE MONETARY FINES THAN IMPRISONMENT

• IN OUR EXAMPLES:

• THE LOVE CANAL BUILDERS WERE MORE INTERESTED IN THE BOOMING PROFIT OF THE NIAGARA REGION THAN THE SAFETY OF THE

RESIDENTS

• IMPERIAL FOOD PRODUCTION MANAGEMENT DISREGARDED ESSENTIAL SAFETY LAWS TO PREVENT THEFT AND SAVE MONEY

• VALUJET’S MAINTENANCE CONTRACTOR, SABRETECH, DELIBERATELY IGNORED FAA REGULATIONS TO AVOID EXTRA SHIPPING

CHARGES

RALPH NADER: "WHY AREN'T CORPORATE CRIMES PROSECUTED?"

APRIL 20, 2010, RALPH NADER LECTURE AT THE MARYLAND INSTITUTE COLLEGE OF ART (MICA), IN BALTIMORE, MD.

“HE SPOKE BEFORE A NEAR CAPACITY AUDIENCE FOR OVER AN HOUR. MR. NADER SAID CORPORATE CRIMES, AS OPPOSED TO

"STREET CRIMES," GO MOSTLY UNDER-REPORTED BY THE ESTABLISHMENT MEDIA IN THE U.S. AND ARE "RARELY PROSECUTED."

HE DETAILED HOW CORPORATE "MISBEHAVIOR, NEGLIGENCE AND CRIMES" COST THOUSANDS OF DEATHS EVERY YEAR IN THE

COUNTRY FROM "PREVENTABLE" WORK-RELATED DISEASES AND INJURIES, [THE MASSEY MINE EXPLOSION]; AIR POLLUTION;

NEGLIGENCE IN HOSPITALS; AND FROM MEDICAL MALPRACTICE CASES. HE ALSO SPOTLIGHTED HOW WALL STREET INSIDERS,

USING VARIOUS SCHEMES, LOOTED "TRILLIONS OF DOLLARS" FROM WORKERS PENSION FUNDS. MR. NADER ADDED: "FORTY-

FIVE THOUSAND PEOPLE DIE EVERY YEAR BECAUSE THEY DON'T HAVE ANY HEALTH INSURANCE." “

HTTPS://WWW.YOUTUBE.COM/WATCH?V=F82MH1NFKXI

ORGANIZATIONS WHO FIGHT BACKFBI White-Collar Crime

http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/investigate/white_collar/whitecollarcrime

RCMP

http://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/ccb-sddc/index-eng.htm

FAIR

http://fairwhistleblower.ca/category/topics/white-collar-crime

CorpWatch

http://www.corpwatch.org/

Corporate Accountability International

http://www.stopcorporateabuse.org/

Corporate Crime Reporter

http://www.corporatecrimereporter.com/

National White Collar Crime Center NW3C

www.nw3c.org

REFERENCES• CRIMINOLOGY.COM. (2014). RETRIEVED FROM CRIMONOLOGY.COM:

HTTP://WWW.CRIMINOLOGY.COM/RESOURCES/CORPORATE-CRIMINALS/

• HAYGOOD, W. (2006, DECEMBER 8). STILL BURNING. THE WASHINGTON POST.

• LINDA A. MOONEY, M. H. (2013). UNDERSTANDING SOCIAL PROBLEMS. TORONTO: NELSON EDUCATION LTD.

• NATIONAL TRANSPORT SAFETY BUREAU. (1997, AUGUST 19). ASN AIRCRAFT ACCIDENT MCDONNELL DOUGLAS DC-9-32

N904VJ EVERGLADES, FL. RETRIEVED FROM AVIATION SAFETY NETWORK: HTTP://AVIATION-

SAFETY.NET/DATABASE/RECORD.PHP?ID=19960511-0

• OFFICE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS. (1995, DECEMBER 21). OCCIDENTAL TO PAY $129 MILLION IN LOVE CANAL SETTLEMENT.

RETRIEVED FROM U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE:

HTTP://WWW.JUSTICE.GOV/OPA/PR/PRE_96/DECEMBER95/638.TXT.HTML