Newsline: 1 June 2004

1. Statline:

Britons Weigh 'Blame and Claim' Culture

Full story: http://www.globalethics.org/redir/nl.html?d=6/1/2004&;id=06010417463259

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2. Commentary by Rushworth M. Kidder:

Overcoming Ethical Nonchalance in the Boardroom

Do corporate boards really care about ethics? Last June, a Conference Board survey of business executives found that more than half of respondents thought their boards were "'not engaged enough' in major ethical issues involving the company." The survey's message is important, if only because the evidence is so stark. Directors, after all, set the ethical tone for the entire enterprise. If the message sent to executives under their watch is that ethics is not worth much discussion, what will be the results?...

Full story: http://www.globalethics.org/redir/nl.html?d=6/1/2004&;id=06010417470476

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3. What They're Saying:

The Code Word

"They grabbed my arms, my legs, twisted me up, and unfortunately one of the individuals got up on my back from behind and put pressure down on me while I was face down. Then he -- the same individual -- reached around and began to choke me and press my head down against the steel floor.... When I couldn't breathe, I began to panic and I gave the code word I was supposed to give to stop the exercise.... That individual slammed my head against the floor and continued to choke me. Somehow I got enough air, I muttered out, 'I'm a U.S. soldier, I'm a U.S. soldier.'"

-- U.S. veteran Sean Baker, formerly of the 438th Military Police company in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Baker, who was told to pose as an uncooperative detainee in a training exercise for U.S. soldiers who did not know his identity, received a medical discharge after the beating, which he says caused severe brain injury. The military acknowledges that Baker was injured but says his medical release was for "unrelated reasons" -- a statement Baker has denounced as a betrayal, according to a local NBC affiliate.

Full story: http://www.globalethics.org/redir/nl.html?d=6/1/2004&;id=06010417473131

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4. SEC Adopts New Ethics Rules for Mutual Fund Industry

WASHINGTON

With nearly half of the nation's biggest mutual fund firms facing charges of fraud and misconduct, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) last week adopted new rules designed to bolster the industry's ethics....

Full story: http://www.globalethics.org/redir/nl.html?d=6/1/2004&;id=06010417481080

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5. Former NYSE Head Sued over Compensation Package

NEW YORK

New York's attorney general last week filed a long-threatened civil suit against Richard Grasso, the former head of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), alleging that he was paid too much for his work....

Full story: http://www.globalethics.org/redir/nl.html?d=6/1/2004&;id=06010417483770

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6. Italian Regulators Accuse GlaxoSmithKline of Perks Scheme

ROME

Italian regulators last week accused more than 4,400 doctors of colluding with pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline in a scheme aimed at securing prescriptions of Glaxo drugs....

Full story: http://www.globalethics.org/redir/nl.html?d=6/1/2004&;id=06010417491452

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7. Canadian CEO Spearheads Attempt to Curtail Sweatshop Suppliers

TORONTO

The "Globe & Mail" is reporting that George Heller, the CEO of Canada's oldest retail company, the Hudson's Bay Company, is attempting to spearhead a global ethical sourcing initiative that has been three years in the making....

Full story: http://www.globalethics.org/redir/nl.html?d=6/1/2004&;id=06010417494698

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8. $280 Billion Suit against Big Tobacco Gets Go-Ahead

WASHINGTON

A federal judge last week gave the green light to the continuation of the largest civil racketeering suit in U.S. history -- a bid by the U.S. government to force the tobacco industry to disgorge $280 billion in past profits....

Full story: http://www.globalethics.org/redir/nl.html?d=6/1/2004&;id=0601041750218

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9. Appeals Court Upholds Oregon's Assisted-Suicide Law

SAN FRANCISCO

U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft exceeded his authority when he tried to shut down Oregon's assisted-suicide law, a federal appeals court ruled last week, calling Ashcroft's move "unlawful and unenforceable."...

Full story: http://www.globalethics.org/redir/nl.html?d=6/1/2004&;id=06010417505125

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10. Nation's Top Judge Announces Review of Judicial Ethics

WASHINGTON

The nation's top judge last week ordered a study of federal judicial ethics following a period of intense criticism over alleged conflicts of interest by members of the Supreme Court and federal benches....

Full story: http://www.globalethics.org/redir/nl.html?d=6/1/2004&;id=06010417511827

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11. NEC Pays $21 Million for Effort to Defraud San Francisco Schools

SAN FRANCISCO

A subsidiary of computer giant NEC last week agreed to pay nearly $21 million in criminal fines and penalties for trying to con San Francisco's schools into overpaying for a useless computer system....

Full story: http://www.globalethics.org/redir/nl.html?d=6/1/2004&;id=06010417515048

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12. Research Report:

U.K. Survey Examines Sue-Happy Culture of 'Blame and Claim'

From Norwich Union:

"An overwhelming 96 percent of people in Britain believe we are more likely to seek damages today than we were a decade ago a new report reveals. Independent research commissioned by Norwich Union looked at whether the public believe there is a compensation culture and what people really think about claiming compensation...."

Full story: http://www.globalethics.org/redir/nl.html?d=6/1/2004&;id=06010417522519

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13. Quote from the Ethics File:

The Highest Proof of Virtue

"The highest proof of virtue is to possess boundless power without abusing it."

-- Thomas Macaulay (U.K. historian, author, and statesman, 1800-1859)

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