Legal Question in Consumer Law in Pennsylvania

Re: Stealing from the customer?

Is it legal? I think you already know the answer: of course not.

What you are describing is fraud. The corporation, and all individuals who participate knowingly in this are also guilty of fraud and conspiracy.

Re: Stealing from the customer?

In a word, No. What you have stated is fraud.

3M Corporation reformulated its Scotchgard brand. The old formulation had a huge market share. The EPA got 3M to discontinue use of specific compounds in Scotchgard [http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/34cef4854b892b8b8525645a004de9a4/33aa946e6cb11f35852568e1005246b4!OpenDocument]. When Scotchgard was re-introduced in a new formulation the upholstery market didn't respond to the new product and no product has filled that gap.

Now to your question. As you have grasped, your boss's intent is to defraud the consumer. In order to do so he must have the quiet assistance of all persons who are "in on the secret." If you go along, you may be guilty of fraud and conspiracy to commit fraud.

You have a few choices depending that boil down to the magic three: Accept the situation and stay; accept the situation and leave; or change the situation. The first and second choices are easier.

If you stay you can then choose to participate or not. If you participate you may be culpable in committing a crime, if one is occurring. If you stay and don't participate then you may have an issue with your boss re your sales quotas. If you leave then you are not participating in the potential fraud but also you are doing nothing to stop it.

Then there is the difficult option, change the situation. This involves making a report either yourself, through an attorney or through a public official. In any manner you should be protected as an employee if your claims are well founded. That is, that the claim is based in truth and is not a false allegation. Each of these options has positives and negatives. If your company is a larger business then it will have a corporate counsel or preferably a compliance officer to whom you can bring this matter. An attorney can guide you through this matter and help in protecting your job and income. If you try to go this alone, you risk not only your job but also appearing as if you are trying to extort money from the employer. You can also go to a public official, but again, this may not protect your job without the assistance of an attorney.

It�s your choice. As I remark to audiences when discussing ethics in business, do you leave your ethics at home when you go off to work? What would you think if your child came home with a similar question?

As you can tell from my answer, corporate ethics and compliance is a topic that is very high on my list of priorities. I have strong experience in both implementing compliance programs and also litigating against businesses that violate the ethical and regulatory norms.

I would be happy to discuss this with you further. In some circumstances there are even potentials for recoveries exceeding actual damages. But again, this should first be about doing what you feel comfortable doing, and then about doing the right thing.

Regards,

Roger Traversa

email: [email protected]