Quiz 1 Flashcards

Question

The Diesel Dupe VW CODE OF CONDUCT:

Answer 1

a requirement included abiding by local and international laws and regulations.

Answer 2

VW engineers requested to install the AdBlue tanks with the diesel engines but were denied. Without the AdBlue tanks, the engineers declared that a clean diesel engine was impossible.

Answer 3

o fulfill the demands of management, VW engineers designed a sophisticated algorithm which was deployed with the diesel based vehicles and could determine whether a vehicle was undergoing emissions testing, placing the vehicle in ‘safe mode,’ decreasing the power and performance, and leading to a decrease in NOx readings. Members of the engineering team warned management that the software (“Defeat Device”) was illegal and a big problem for vehicles exported to the US because of the EPA CAA emissions standards. Management ignored the warnings. No actions to correct/remedy the situation. Some suggest that management focus on increased US sales was more important than the consequences of cheating emissions testing.

Answer 4

VW marketing campaign advertised a “Clean Diesel” car VW achieves its stated goal of tripling its U.S. sales 2014 West Virginia University study examined two VW models of diesel-powered VWs in the lab and on the road. The study revealed 35x more NOx emitted from the vehicle on the road than in the lab. Upon publication of the study U.S. government agencies (EPA and the California Air Resources Board) pursue VW.

Answer 5

 Denial VW CEO directed his General Manager responsible for interacting with regulatory agencies to lie to the EPA officials General Manager met with the EPA officials and described upgrades but did not disclose any cheating or the Defeat Device. (a culture of lying was not abnormal in VW) VW engineer stepped forward and subsequently the General Manager acknowledge the existence of the Defeat Device to the EPA officials. Other VW employees revealed management’s direct influence to hide any wrongdoing. Upon the General Manager’s admission and the subsequent release of the news about the Defeat Device on 18 September 2015, the VW CEO stepped down as CEO five days later.

Answer 6

VW stock fell 1.9% The EPA launched a full investigation accusing 39 individuals of fraud and 13 others of fraud/false advertising. The General Manager was arrested and pled guilty receiving a 7-year prison sentence * The corporate culture was one of fierce internal competition for advancement * The General Manager lied to comply with management’s request 11 million cars worldwide were recalled US consumers given choice: cash or another car; European consumers: not so lucky, only given choice to ‘tweak’ the software 2017 U.S. Department of Justice charged VW and it plead guilty to three felony counts: (1) conspiracy to violate the CAA; (2) Obstruction of justice for destroying docs; and (3) Importing cars into the use by means of false statements.

Answer 7

 $38B – estimate of total fines and settlement paid out which represents half of the company’s market cap * June 2016, $14.7B to settle civil charges in the U.S. * April 2017, $2.8B criminal fine for “rigging diesel-powered vehicles to cheat on government emissions tests” * 475,000 cars VW agreed to buy back from U.S. consumers in a settlement that cost VW $10B * VW paid an additional $4.7B to fund an EPA task force and invest in clean vehicle projects  11 million vehicles equipped with Defeat Devices worldwide  At least 22 countries with active investigations as of June 2023  Rupert Stadler, former head of Audi, became the first VW board member to be sentenced for the VW fraud scandal. He was fined $1.2M and received a suspended sentence of one year and nine months.

Answer 8

What are the ethical issue(s)? What ethical principles would you consider? Where did things go wrong? Consider the consequences? Could different choices have been made? With hindsight, what would you do?

Answer 9

Morality is relative; there is no standard. If there are two individuals in disagreement over moral question, both are correct because there is no common standard to consider when evaluating another person's actions

Answer 10

One takes the position of the person confronting the ethics dilemma and then decides whether that person's action was ethical. Issue: How to evaluate the person's actions? Which set of ethical rules to use

Answer 11

One with an ethical dilemma must choose the course of action that yields the greatest amount of pleasure over pain for all stakeholders

Answer 12

General rules that on balance produce greatest amount of pleasure for all stakeholders should be followed

Answer 13

Compares pleasure and pain for the optional choices using monetary units as basis for measurements

Answer 14

Certain actions are right or wrong regardless of their consequences. What determines right or wrong? Categorical Imperative considers that an action that is moral only if it would be consistent for everyone in society to act in the same way. The duties that we owe each other as humans are more ethically significant than the measurements of the impacts of business decisions. So, pursuant to this theory, any business decision that violates the duty of trust would be wrong.

Answer 15

Duties we owe each other imply that humans have fundamental rights. Human beings have fundamental rights based on the dignity of each individual. A business decision is ethical based on how the decision affects the rights of all involved. (Declaration of Independence asserts everyone has right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness)

Answer 16

Development of virtues or positive character traits (e.g., courage, justice, truthfulness, etc) is the basis of morality. As such, a moral person seeks to develop virtues, which are the habits of mind that move the individual towards excellence for the good life of human flourishing.Pursuant to this theory, business managers must act in ways that are congruent with positive character traits striving towards excellence to achieve the good life. Issue: what constitutes 'the good life'?

Answer 17

Business managers take the course of action that is most consistent with building and maintaining human relationships. When one person cares for another, then that person is acting morally. Decision making includes analysis of the harm done to relationships

Answer 18

 Indicative of change  Productive vs. Destructive  Resolution – social/cultural norms > public policy > rule of law  Self help vs court system

Answer 19

 The authority/power of a court to hear a case brought before it and then render a decision binding those parties arguing the case before the court.

Answer 20

Original Appellate In Personam In Rem Subject Matter Federal Concurrent State

Answer 21

– Power to hear and decide cases when they first enter the legal system

Answer 22

Power to review previous judicial decisions to determine whether trial courts erred in their decisions

Answer 23

Power to render a decision affecting the rights of the specific persons before the court

Answer 24

Power to hear certain kinds of cases

Answer 25

State courts’ authority over persons within the state’s borders Long Arm Statutes enable courts in personam jurisdiction for persons outside the state’s borders Minimum Contacts – sufficient within the state include committing a tort or doing business within the state

Answer 26

Exclusive Federal Jurisdiction includes: Admiralty cases Bankruptcy cases Federal criminal prosecutions Cases in which one state sues another state Claims against the United States Other claims involving federal statutes that specify exclusive federal jurisdiction

Answer 27

State courts have a broad range of cases they can hear They can hear all cases not falling under Exclusive Federal Jurisdiction NOTE: most cases fall under state court jurisdiction

Answer 28

Occurs when both the state and federal system have jurisdiction over a case Federal question cases (cases involving issues of construction, enforcement or application of federal law) Diversity of citizenship cases (plaintiffs and defendants are citizens of different states and amount in controversy is >$75K)

Answer 29

 The basis for an appellate review of a trial court decision is either an error in the application of the law or an error in the process/procedure. An appeal is not a new trial and the appellate court will not hear new evidence.  Congress passed a law (Title IV: Innocence Protection Act of 2004 - Innocence Protection Act of 2004 - Subtitle A: Exonerating the Innocent Through DNA Testing) allowing for post-conviction DNA testing

Answer 30

efendant Burdick, an Illinois resident and a consultant working for Nerium International, a skincare company, posted defamatory statements about two California bloggers, Sanderson and Taylor who had questioned the safety and efficacy of a Nerium product in blog posts. Sanderson and Taylor attempted to bring suit in CA. Defendant Burdick moved to quash the CA summons arguing no minimum contacts to satisfy in personam jurisdiction.

Answer 31

Defamatory posts that do not specifically target forum state, CA, lack support for minimum contacts to satisfy in personam jurisdiction.

Answer 32

Whether there exists in personam jurisdiction for an out of state defendant posting alleged defamatory statements against CA bloggers?

Answer 33

Because defamatory posts did not target nor show that the post might be read by a significant number of other CA residents, the court found no in personam jurisdiction.

Answer 34

Admiralty cases Bankruptcy Cases Federal Criminal Prosecutions Cases in which one state sues another state Claims against the united states Other claims involving federal statues that specify exclusive federal jurisdiction

Answer 35

Federal-Question Cases Diversity-of-citizenship

Answer 36

All cases not falling within exclusive federal jurisdiction

Answer 37

For purposes of ascertaining concurrent jurisdiction via federal diversity of citizenship, corporations are deemed citizens of the state where incorporated and the place where its principal place of business is located.  2010 Supreme Court (SCOTUS) case, Hertz Corporation v. Friend, 130 S. Ct. 1181 (2010), SCOTUS found that the principal place of business for a corporation refers to where the officers direct, control, and coordinate the corporation’s activities (‘nerve center’)

Answer 38

1. FederalTrialCourts(U.S.District Courts) 2. Intermediate Courts of Appeal 3. TheUnitedStatesSupremeCourt (SCOTUS)

Answer 39

(1) STANDING to sue, and (2) there must be a JUSTICIABLE CONTROVERSY, and (3) the case must be RIPE for trial

Answer 40

Power of a court to hear a case and render deacons binding the parties before the court

Answer 41

Most appropriate geographical location where a case should be heard. It is usually where the parties reside or where the case arose

Answer 42

Informal Negotiations Pleadings (Plaintiff files a Complaint) Service of Process Defendant’s Response (Answer) Pretrial Motions Examination of witnesses and presentation of evidence Opening Statements Jury Selection Pretrial Conference Discovery Closing Arguments Jury Instructions Post Trial Motions

Answer 43

An issue concerning interpretation or application of law

Answer 44

Concerns an event or characteristic in the case, facts or evidence

Answer 45

 Complaint consists of the allegations against the defendant

Answer 46

A prejudicial error of law must exist for an appeal to succeed. Appeals are only on the record. No additional evidence can be considered by the appellate court. For most cases only one appeal to an intermediate court of appeal is allowed. Four possible decisions: Affirming trial court’s decision, Modifying trial court’s decision (finding decision was correct but remedy inappropriate) Reversing trial court’s decision (trial court was wrong) Remands the case back to the trial court for a new trial because and error was made which may affect the outcome

Answer 47

 The United States Supreme Court hears very few cases per year.  At least four of the nine sitting justices must agree to grant a Writ of Certiorari for the Court to hear a case; this is called the ‘rule of fours.’  Cases likely to be heard by SCOTUS include:  A substantial federal question not yet addressed by SCOTUS  Different rulings on the same issue across multiple circuit courts of appeal  State supreme court ruling a federal law invalid or has upheld a state law that may violate federal law  A federal court ruled that an act of Congress is unconstitutional

Answer 48

Resolution of legal disputes through other methods instead of litigation such as negotiation, mediation, arbitration, summary jury trials, minitrials, neutral case evaluations, and private trials

Answer 49

Negotiation Mediation Arbitration

Answer 50

Self help Parties try to resolve dispute by negotiating with each other Parties own the decision making as to the outcomes

Answer 51

Neutral Parties try to resolve dispute by agreeing to a process set by the mediator Parties own the decision making as to outcome

Answer 52

Neutral Parties try to resolve dispute by agreeing to a process set by the arbiter Parties outsource to an arbiter the decision making as to outcome

Answer 53

Facilitated or assisted negotiation Neutral helps with resolving the conflict Disputants retain the power to settle (or not)

Answer 54

 Helps disputing parties preserve their professional relationships (ethics of care)  Provides possibility of finding creative solutions to a dispute (buy in)  Offers participants high level of autonomy and self-determination

Answer 55

 Appears to be an equal process and solution, thereby, hiding power imbalances that would lead to the party with greater power securing an agreement of greater benefit  Some enter mediation with no intention of finding a solution and use mediation as a delay tactic

Answer 56

An adjudication* process in which the power to decide the dispute resolution/outcome is given to a decision maker by agreement of the disputants *a formal judgment on a disputed matter

Answer 57

* Informal. minimal participation by lawyers, minimal discovery, procedural rules or rules of evidence * Formal: lawyers participating, rigid evidentiary rules and process, similar to litigation

Answer 58

* Executory. arbitration agreement predates dispute; contingency planning * Ad-hoc. arbitration agreement made after dispute arises

Answer 59

* Administered. Arbitration organization controlling process as stipulated by the arbitration agreement * Non-Administered. Arbitrator and disputants control the process

Answer 60

* Interest Arbitration. Arbitration to determine terms of collective bargaining agreement * Rights Arbitration. Arbitration to adjudicate unfair labor practices claims or other grievance

Answer 61

* Private. Arbitration arising in private sector not connect to public * Public. Court-connected, e.g., nonbinding evaluation process pursuant to the court for an advisory arbitration award * Private Judging or Rent-a-Judge. Privately hired judge

Answer 62

* High - Low. Arbitrator’s decision limited to possible outcomes stipulated by prior agreement * Final-Offer or Baseball Arbitration. N * Night Baseball Arbitration. Arbitrator renders decision without knowing final offers with award as the final offer closest to decision

Answer 63

* Binding. Arbitration in which outcome binds all disputants (‘true’ arbitration) * Incentive. Non-binding evaluation in which disputant who rejects evaluator’s decision is subject to a penalty * Non-Binding or Advisory Non-binding evaluation in which evaluator renders decision, which may be rejected by either disputant without penalty

Answer 64

 DEFINITION: A provision in a contract mandating that all disputes arising under a contract must be settled by arbitration.  The clause also typically states how the arbitrator will be selected. If parties have a binding arbitration agreement, the parties must resolve the dispute through arbitration.

Answer 65

 More efficient and less expensive than litigation  Parties have more control over the process of dispute resolution (parties choose the arbitrator and determine how formal the process will be)  Parties can choose arbitrator with expertise in specific subject matter of dispute  Arbitrator has greater flexibility in decision making (compared to decision making authority of judge)

Answer 66

 As use of arbitration increases, efficiencies and lower cost advantages (compared to litigation decrease  Difficulty of appealing an arbitration award  Loss of civil rights and remedies available through litigation  Companies and employers may effectively “hide” their disputes through arbitration (non-public nature of arbitration versus public trail)

Answer 67

Determining the best course of action when choices could tracks and kill one person but save five, or do nothing and allow the trolley to kill the five people on the original track. cause harm or have significant impacts:  Real World. Imagine you are responsible for developing the algorithm for the AI agent responsible for autonomous vehicles (AV). You can engineer a bias towards survival of the * Whether it is acceptable to cause a smaller harm to prevent a passenger of the AV and ignore or set at a lower priority for the safety of others. What do you do? greater one  Utilitarism. ChOooRse the action with the best overall consequences? In the context of the trolley problem, this would mean pulling the lever to minimize the total number of deaths. * Whether it is better to avoid causing harm directly, even if it  Deontological Ethics. This perspective emphasizes adherence to moral rules or duties. leads to a worse outcome

Answer 68

 The Court ruled that because subject-matter jurisdiction existed at the time of judgment, the jurisdictional defect had been cured, and the Sixth Circuit erred in ruling otherwise.  Once a diversity case has been tried in federal court, with rules of decision supplied by state law under the regime of Erie Railroad Co. v. Tompkins, considerations of finality, efficiency, and economy become overwhelming." If the Court were to require that a case that had proceeded through trial to judgment had to be dismissed afterward for lack of jurisdiction, there would be a tremendous waste of judicial resources. In this case, complete diversity, and hence federal jurisdiction, existed at the time of judgment. "To wipe out the adjudication postjudgment, and return to state court a case now satisfying all federal jurisdictional requirements, would impose an exorbitant cost on our dual court system, a cost incompatible with the fair and unprotracted administration of justice."

Answer 69

Negotiation Mediation Arbitration

Answer 70

Facilitated or assisted negotiation Neutral helps with resolving the conflict Disputants retain the power to settle (or not)

Answer 71

 Helps disputing parties preserve their professional relationships (ethics of care)  Provides possibility of finding creative solutions to a dispute (buy in)  Offers participants high level of autonomy and self-determination

Answer 72

 Appears to be an equal process and solution, thereby, hiding power imbalances that would lead to the party with greater power securing an agreement of greater benefit  Some enter mediation with no intention of finding a solution and use mediation as a delay tactic