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Bp Crisis

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Bp Crisis
BP Crises
Law/531
October 1, 2012

The Deepwater Horizon disaster attributed to BP, a multinational oil and gas company, occurred in 2010 dumping massive amounts of oil in the waters on the gulf coast. The BP is headquartered in London with operations in 80 countries with the largest being in the United States. Team B participated in a simulation that presented a similar scenario as the oil spill mentioned. The company in the simulation is an American based organization that produced aluminum. Alumina was accused of violating the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) standards omitting higher discharges in the water than allowed. Alumina is facing charges of negligence by a mother, claiming her daughter became ill with cancer due to the negligence. The cases present obvious legal issues such as loss of income within the tourism industry due to negligence, potential health issues, and wrongful death. Another element is the impact on the environment and the responsibility to repair the damages. The paper will determine the legal issues involved in the lawsuit, compare and contrast between the two cases and examine the role of management reaction.
Legal Issues The most obvious legal issue that is present in the BP case as well as the Alumina simulation is the case of negligence. Negligence can be defined as “the omission to do something which a reasonable man would do, or doing something which a prudent and reasonable man would not do” (Cheeseman, 2010). As a result of the primary issue of negligence by both BP and Alumina, there are other legal issues that have presented themselves. There are health issues and problems resulting from the spill. In the Alumina simulation, the family claims Alumina’s actions are the cause of the child’s leukemia. In the case of the BP oil spill, the health problems and risks are being reviewed. Many residents of the Gulf coastline are


References: Cheeseman, H. R. (2010). Business law: Legal environment, online commerce, business ethics, and international issues (7th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall. Houck, O. (2010). Oil HYPERLINK "http://search.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.apollolibrary.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=f5h&AN=51652144&site=ehost-live"&HYPERLINK "http://search.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.apollolibrary.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=f5h&AN=51652144&site=ehost-live" accountability: Who will pay to fix Louisiana? Nation, 291(2), 11-14. Retrieved Online from http://web.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.apollolibrary.com/ehost/detail?sid=5037cd31-640d-4271-bc6f-20a56aa8a0e1%40sessionmgr11HYPERLINK "http://web.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.apollolibrary.com/ehost/detail?sid=5037cd31-640d-4271-bc6f-20a56aa8a0e1%40sessionmgr11&vid=1&hid=10&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d"&HYPERLINK "http://web.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.apollolibrary.com/ehost/detail?sid=5037cd31-640d-4271-bc6f-20a56aa8a0e1%40sessionmgr11&vid=1&hid=10&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d"vid=1HYPERLINK "http://web.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.apollolibrary.com/ehost/detail?sid=5037cd31-640d-4271-bc6f-20a56aa8a0e1%40sessionmgr11&vid=1&hid=10&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d"&HYPERLINK "http://web.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.apollolibrary.com/ehost/detail?sid=5037cd31-640d-4271-bc6f-20a56aa8a0e1%40sessionmgr11&vid=1&hid=10&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d"hid=10HYPERLINK "http://web.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.apollolibrary.com/ehost/detail?sid=5037cd31-640d-4271-bc6f-20a56aa8a0e1%40sessionmgr11&vid=1&hid=10&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d"&HYPERLINK "http://web.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.apollolibrary.com/ehost/detail?sid=5037cd31-640d-4271-bc6f-20a56aa8a0e1%40sessionmgr11&vid=1&hid=10&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d"bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=f5hHYPERLINK "http://web.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.apollolibrary.com/ehost/detail?sid=5037cd31-640d-4271-bc6f-20a56aa8a0e1%40sessionmgr11&vid=1&hid=10&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d"&HYPERLINK "http://web.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.apollolibrary.com/ehost/detail?sid=5037cd31-640d-4271-bc6f-20a56aa8a0e1%40sessionmgr11&vid=1&hid=10&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d"AN=51652144 Searcey, D. (2011, January 28). Oil-Spill Lawyers Urge Clients to Settle; Move Would Shift Gulf Resident 's Claims From Court to PB 's Compensation Fund; "Most of These People Can 't Wait". Wall Street Journal, p. .Retrieved online from http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.apollolibrary.com/docview/847573175?accountid=35812 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. (2011, January 28). Oil Pollution Act. Retrieved from http://www.epa.gov/oem/content/lawsregs/opaover.htm
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