Corporate Governance
‘Bosses who kill should be jailed. In the case of James Hardie executives, they have known since the1930s that asbestos is a killer and they didn't stop producing asbestos products until 1985. James Hardieexecutives' decision to continue producing asbestos for more than 50 years after discovering that asbestosis a killer means that they should be prosecuted for manslaughter. They are mass murderers.
To date the only action taken against the management of James Hardie was the 2007 civil penaltyproceedings against seven former non-executive directors, three former executive directors and thecompany secretary/general counsel of JHIL for breaches of s 180(1) of the Act brought by ASIC. It wasalleged that each failed to exercise due care and diligence in relation to the release of information to theshare market and, by doing so, breached their duties to the company.
Required:
You are about to write the outline of a paper that will eventually be submitted to a professional journalthat specialises in corporate governance. Youyou're yourco-authors have decided to examine the extent towhich the management of James Hardie Industries has been held accountable for the health and safety ofits workers, customers and the community generally. You will present the initial results of your researchat an informal meeting of your colleagues for comment before submitting the paper to the journal. Inyour paper you will:
a) outline the findings of the various courts of appeal
b) discuss the severity of the penalties awarded to the management of James Hardie.
Please also provide the powerpoint and around 5 mins presentation on these two parts.