Tort and Regulatory Risk Reduction Plan
In business, tort law “provides remedies to persons and businesses that are injured by the tortuous actions of others” (Cheesman, 2010). Companies need to identify and manage regulatory risks through preventative, detective, and corrective measures.
The Alumina, Inc. simulation identified defamation of character, negligence, and invasion of privacy as possible regulatory risks. Five years ago, Alumina, Inc was cited for violating EPA a regulation violation. Alumina, Inc. quickly and efficiently corrected the infraction and has remained violation free ever since. Recently, Kelly Bates’ has publicly accused Alumina, Inc. for a violation that has caused her daughter’s leukemia. Bates claims that the first violation from five years ago, was the initial cause of her daughter’s disease. By publically accusing the company, Bates has opened up a possible demotion of character suit. More specifically, the defamation of character is in the form of libel. Libel is “a false statement that appears in [published works]” (Cheesman, 2010).
As it turns out, Alumina, Inc. made a good decision by performing an independent study to test Bates’ accusation. The results of the test showed that Alumina, Inc had not violated EPA regulations. If they had not done the independent study, they would not have known for certain if they were guilty of negligence. Negligence is “harm that is the foreseeable consequence of [the company’s] actions” (Cheesman, 2010). A second negligence violation in five years would have been detrimental to the reputation of the company.
Finally, one of Alumina, Inc.’s managers wanted to perform a private investigation of Kelly Bates. Had the company done this and it become known to Bates, Alumina, Inc could have been charged with invasion of privacy. Invasion of privacy is “the intrusion into the personal life of another, without just cause” (Hill, 2005). A private investigation before the claim was...