Business Ethics Working Conditions When does a worker's death become murder?

Essay by Wolfgang61University, Master'sA-, October 2004

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The first thing that might come into a sane mind when presented with this question is that, if an employee loses his or her life due to gross negligence from their employer, it should be considered murder. I believe that an employer should be held fully responsible for negligent acts that cause the death of an employee, but it doesn't matter what I or anyone else for that matter, believes. What matters is what is written in the law, which is what ultimately will bring justice to such acts.

A workers death caused by gross negligence from an employer should become murder, but when we look at the legal definition of murder, it's clear that this definition must be modified. In order to rule a worker's death as murder, there has to be an intentional infliction upon the person killed of bodily harm involving a high degree of probability that it will result in death and which shows a wanton disregard for human life.

In other words, did the employer acted with premeditation to kill the employee.

This paper discusses the conditions that in my opinion would have to be present when the death of an employee could be ruled crime, although not necessarily a murder. I intend to prove my point by providing legal definitions of the different types of murder and other crimes that could apply in case of the death of an employee. I will also provide facts and opinions from subject matter experts' papers, write-ups and news reports that further prove the need to redefine the legal definition of murder in order to rule an employer's actions as such.

In my opinion, an employer should be charged of a crime when his or her actions are negligent in nature, whether willfully or unknowingly, which directly or...