Corporate crime

Corporate crime consists of illegal acts committed by corporations or their representatives to benefit an organization. It includes offenses such as fraud, environmental violations, and workplace safety breaches.

Corporate culture: Shared norms and practices that shape behavior within an organization. Pressure to meet targets or tolerate misconduct can make illegal practices seem acceptable.
Enron scandal: A major accounting fraud that caused Enron's 2001 bankruptcy and the dissolution of its auditor, Arthur Andersen. The case illustrates how executives concealed losses through complex financial arrangements.
Individual criminal liability: The legal responsibility of a natural person for committing or assisting a crime. Corporate prosecutions may accompany, but do not replace, charges against responsible people.
Environmental crime: Illegal conduct that harms or threatens the natural environment. Pollution and illegal resource extraction are prominent forms of corporate offending.
Corporate criminal liability: The legal responsibility of a corporation for criminal acts attributable to it under applicable law. Rules for attributing employees' conduct to companies determine when corporate crime can be prosecuted.
Organizational deviance: Departures from legal or social norms carried out through organizational structures or routines. Corporate crime is one form of wrongdoing enabled by organizations.
Volkswagen emissions scandal: A scandal in which Volkswagen used software to make diesel vehicles evade emissions tests. It became a prominent case of deliberate environmental deception by a corporation.
Civil liability: Legal responsibility to compensate for harm or meet another civil remedy, distinct from criminal punishment. A company can face lawsuits or regulatory penalties without a criminal conviction.
Occupational safety and health: The protection of workers from hazards, injuries, and illness arising from work. Criminal safety violations can expose workers to preventable injury or death.
Respondeat superior: A doctrine that can make an employer legally responsible for an employee's conduct within the scope of employment. In the United States, this doctrine is central to attributing some employee crimes to corporations.

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John GrishamRelated: Corporate wrongdoing supplies the antagonists and stakes in novels such as The Firm.