10 Most Unethical Business Actions

#5 Blackwater: Cruel Enough To Ignore Employee Safety

Blackwater, the biggest security PMC in the world, is a minefield of ethical problems, which reflect in the treatment of its workers. The company’s employee contracts included following clauses that are clearly inhumane:

1) If you defy a direct order, for any reason, you will be abruptly terminated and Blackwater will withhold all back salary and bring legal action against your family.

2) If you die or are injured on a mission due to the negligence of Blackwater, you can’t sue them. If you sue them, they will withhold all your back salary and bring legal action against you and your family.

3) You can be terminated for any reason whatsoever, and if you sue them for wrongful dismissal they will withhold all your back salary and bring legal action against you and your family.

This contracting system holds employees as slaves until they quit. An unforgettable image got circulated on the Internet of two Blackwater contractors dead, strung up after they dangerously went through Fallujah in a Jeep. Their superiors at the company ordered them to do the run, even though they objected.

The U. S. Army had already deemed the journey “operationally dangerous” and it refused to allow soldiers to enter. More over Blackwater didn’t provide a gunner who was promised to safeguard the men on their trip. And at the end, without being able to refuse the company orders, the two contractors had to face their destiny.