Craig Norm, an engineer, of Norm Engineering, has been contracted by the Australian Building Association (ABA) to
Question:
Craig Norm, an engineer, of Norm Engineering, has been contracted by the Australian Building Association (ABA) to conduct an audit of the materials installed and supplied by City Builders Pty Ltd.City Builders supplies and fit cladding to the external walls of apartment buildings throughout Australia. The cladding is both decorative and forms part of the building structure.
Craig, on completion of his audit determines the cladding to be highly flammable and potentially very dangerous. Tim Jones is the owner and director of City Builders. Upon advising, Tim is devastated and knows if he loses his building license and subsequently his business, he will not be able to afford to care for his family. They will likely lose their home.
Prior to submitting his audit report to the ABA, Tim approaches Craig with an offer to make him a director and shareholder of City Builders Pty Ltd at no cost to Craig. He also offers to pay Craig thirty percent of all company profits. City Builders has been highly profitable in recent years due to the building boom in apartments in Australia.The only condition Tim places on Craig is that he does not disclose his findings about the cladding in his report to the ABA.
Required:
Discuss Craig's' ethical position / obligations and his possible courses of action. The research should be drawn from the prescribed text, articles, and any relevant ethical frameworks.
Part (b)
Harminder recently had dinner with his sister Priya, who is a senior accountant at AAA Ltd, a large pharmaceutical company listed on the Australian Stock Exchange. Over dinner Priya expressed her concerns about many recent complaints about one of their leading products CoVax. CoVax, which is promoted as a cure for many deadly diseases, has reportedly been responsible for many premature deaths of clients. There is to be a major investigation by authorities into the company and its practices regarding the drug CoVax and other products. Harminder and his parents have always supported Priya's career decisions and consequently have invested many thousands of dollars buying shares in AAA Ltd. The family are now considering selling all their shares before this news hits the financial press, which is imminent in the next few days.
Required:
Discuss the ethical or legal implications that may follow if Harminder and his family sell their shares prior to this announcement and their possible courses of action.
Cite References
Financial Accounting An Introduction
ISBN: 9780273737650
2nd Edition
Authors: Mr Barry Elliott, Mr Augustine Benedict