10 Most Unethical Business Actions

#3 Dow Chemical/Union Carbide: Rejecting liability of Bhopal Disaster

Dow Chemical already had a sinister reputation as it spent money to the development and manufacturing of napalm for the U. S. military, a chemical which was used in the Vietnam War that gave people horrific burns and damaging a generation of unborn babies. Now after acquiring Union Carbide in 2001, they are involving in more unethical situations.

Union Carbide was directly responsible for the deaths of around 8,000 Indian people in December 1984 in Bhopal, and the birth defects that followed. This disaster happened when a pesticide factory in Bhopal, India, owned and operated by Union Carbide Corporation, leaked large and deadly amounts of Methyl isocyanides, a highly poisonous gas.

While Union Carbide offered $350 million in compensation, the Government of India said that the damages cost $3.3 billion. At the end the Government had to settle for $470 million. Throughout the years, the company has had to fund hospitals and response centers to buy back their reputation, but many still say that what UCC have donated is negligible when compared to the human cost of the disaster.

Dow Chemical, the wealthier new owners of Union Carbide, has not yet decided to whether the people of Bhopal should be considered or not. They are not willing to take over the liabilities Union Carbide Company had.