by Marie Monique-Robin
A great read, The World According to Monsanto provides a startling look at the corporate titan. While discussing the legal problems of Monsanto in regards to their improper PCB disposal in Alabama. It brought up an interesting point about corporations, individual responsibility and the loopholes in our legal system.
The status of corporations as “persons” in United States law
generally shelters company officials from individual liability. “In the
American legal system,” said Cook, “it is very rare for executives or managers
of companies to be found criminally liable. On the other hand, companies can be
sued in civil court, and they are made to pay. But in fact, the damages they
pay decades later are only a fraction of their profits. So it pays to keep
secrets. I wonder what secrets Monsanto is keeping now. You can never trust a
big company like Monsanto to tell us the truth about a product or a pollution
problem. Never.”
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