Assume that you are an executive at the company that produces industrial cleaning products. Given the specific purpose of your product and its application, it is highly caustic and can cause significant injury if not handled appropriately. In spite of clearly visible warnings and instructions on the product, and employee of a customer has mishandled the product and as a result, was severely injured and will likely sustain significant scarring for the rest of their life. The individual has retained a contingency attorney who has sued your company for a significant amount of money and as the executive in charge of this product, you are charged with handling the situation. How will you handle the situation? Remember that you are a business executive and therefore it is not expected of you to render a legal opinion or even a legal strategy. However, many of us are likely to encounter a situation similar to this in our career in it is important that we know what needs to be done by the executive in charge of the situation.

Discuss what steps you would take in a situation like this, and in which order you would take the steps. Consider issues such as retaining counsel, what type of counsel, and other words counsel's specialty, what documentation to collect, what research and previous incidents to perform, whether or not to change how the product is sold or even to temporarily suspend its sale, whether you need to change your marketing message, and so on. Do not forget to address any ethical concerns you may have.

Agree or Disagree with the Below Statement and WHY?

It sounds like the product is too dangerous to be produced (Ebert, Griffin, 2019). Consequently, it would not be ethical to sidestep all responsibility for the incident. First, an incident report detailing the event would be requested along with medical bills and doctor's notes related to the treatment provided to injured employee of the client as a result of the incident and any relevant video footage of the incident while apologizing for the hardship and assuring the client of our commitment to handling this situation responsibly. Next, a review of the history of the product and whether a similar incident has ever occurred would be necessary. Also, a review of the company's liability insurance coverage would reveal the amount of coverage available through the company's insurance policy. It would then be appropriate to file a claim on behalf of the client. Hopefully, this would result in a reduced settlement or even the option to settle out of court. It would be best for the company to retain counsel; a qualified product liability defense attorney should be able to assist in obtaining an equitable outcome (Axiom, n.d.).

Simultaneously, it would be advisable to immediately suspend production of the dangerous product. Eventually, it would be advisable to meet with a team of chemists to redesign the formula and make the product safer. Then, it would be possible to market the new product as a safer and equally or more effective solution.