Running Head: COVID AND UNETHICAL PRACTICES OF COMPANIES 1

Corona-Virus and the Unethical Practices of Companies

Tahjee Fleming-Robinson

Sociology 101

Essex County College

December 12th, 2020

CORONA VIRUS AND UNETHICAL PRACTICES OF THE COMPANIES 2

Corona Virus and Unethical Practices of the Companies

Introduction

The paper aims to provide various insights of the current pandemic and the unethical

practices of the companies. Apart from the slow response from some governments to the

outbreak of coronavirus that is crushing the world economy, there are some organizations that

have decided to go above and beyond in support of their employees and customers. On the other

hand, there are many businesses that are trying to take advantage of the chaos of this scenario.

The disease that originated in China has now spread to all parts of the world and has been

regarded as a global crisis. There is no clear guidance on how the organizations can stable

themselves for such an event, which is referred to as pandemic. The companies have raised

prices, which are considered higher in comparison to the standard rates. Instead of supporting the

workers and the customers, the companies are too focused on making a profit. These practices of

various organizations are considered unethical in accordance with the set of ethical values.

What is price gouging?

In accordance with the set of ethical deliberations, legal actions can be implied in the

work of price gouging. Price gouging refers to the increase in the prices of products and

commodities to such a level, that it is deemed unfair, greedy even. This is usually associated with

rapid demand for the product or service. The paper, in relation to this, describes how the prices

of products have increased after the outbreak of the coronavirus, which can be directly associated

with the term price gouging, while also illustrating some of the legal considerations in this

regard. The findings of the paper explain different views of various scholars on the unethical

practices in association with the global pandemic. Some of the authors are in support of the

unethical practices of the companies and imply that these companies tend to help the employees
CORONA VIRUS AND UNETHICAL PRACTICES OF THE COMPANIES 3

and customers if they are making a profit and don't consider it against the ethical values, but

there are some authors who are against this practice and specifically highlight the unethical

considerations in association with these practices. They instead consider the positive side and

imply that these companies can prove to be a helping hand and can re-stabilize the economy.

They focus on the aspects through which the companies can help in strengthening the economy.

Price gouging usually occurs after a natural disaster like this pandemic.

Corona Outbreak and Unethical Activities of Organizations

Pandemics have helped improve the modern health care systems, just as war had led to

rapid technological advances, and the 2008 financial crisis (on the global level) has supported the

founding of technology based companies like Uber and AirBnB. The current pandemic is no

exception. Businesses have a crucial role in supporting society through such a crisis and in

establishing innovations for coping up with the crisis. In the current pandemic, many businesses

were found practicing against ethical considerations. The quote, “Never let a good crisis go to

waste,” seems to be the mantra of some of these modern companies. Health Care companies

especially are crossing the boundaries of what ethical considerations are. It has been suggested

by some reports that this has included experimentation of different body parts of aborted fetuses,

which would strongly be considered unethical (Alsahafi & Cheng, 2016). Even more so, can the

questionable experimentation and data even be validated? The coronavirus pandemic has

provided the opportunity to expose such companies to the rest of the world. Over 100,000 spates,

ranging from the years 2011 to 2018, have been tracked by "The World Health Organization." In

this period, many outbreaks were propagated in a specific (usually limited) geographical area. In

this time period, too, many of these same pandemics and epidemics broke through that specific

geographical region. Corona, for example, began somewhere in China, and in less than 6 months
CORONA VIRUS AND UNETHICAL PRACTICES OF THE COMPANIES 4

has spread to almost every developed nation on the planet, posing serious challenges for all

involved (Cetron & Landwirth, 2005).

Accountability

Some scholars argue that intentional accountability is not meaningful and is simply a

marketing tool. One of the causes of why voluntary accountability does not tend to work is that

there are no consequences in case of no compliance scenario. Moreover, it is argued by some of

the authors that accountability ought to be a necessary element obliged by legislation. This leads

to a situation in which every company is evaluated the same way and faces similar consequences

associated with the case of infringement. These consequences should be taken seriously by

companies. Regarding these consequences however, things are not as simple as they seem to be

for large companies specifically, so while this may be effective on the national level, on the

global stage, this can prove to be problematic. It is tough to agree on the international laws and

hard to find the correct administering mechanisms (Enitan, Ibeh, Oluremi, Olayanju & Itodo,

2020). There are also perceptions associated with what is right and what is wrong. The

differences in political terms cannot bridge this progress. The world has undividedly proven to

agree to be very hard on how individuals can acquire things in terms of economic, social, and

environmental values. If the right treaties in consideration with ethical values are adopted, then it

would result in the extended social discussions and values which lead towards recognized

political promises instead of a clear values set (Wernaart, 2018).

Business in developing nations

In a developing nation, not all citizens have enough resources to buy adequate necessities and

thus are a step away from poverty. In such countries, if the situation of price gouging by a
CORONA VIRUS AND UNETHICAL PRACTICES OF THE COMPANIES 5

significant number of organizations occurs, it can lead to the extreme instances of poverty. For

the stability of a company in such a country, the wellbeing of the employees should be

considered the foremost factor. Because, apart from being a business expense, they are the value

makers. By the ethical considerations, where the employees are given a healthy working

environment, their working conditions are in a guaranteed and stable state, promoting a factor of

sustainability in the workplace. The companies which aim for these social values do not only

limit them to their employees but apply them in general. Such companies practice by ethical

considerations (Wernaart, 2018).

Ethical choices made by businesses

In this pandemic, some businesses are making the appropriate ethical choices. Most have

introduced bans on travel, have canceled meetings, and the larger organizations have permitted

employees to work from home and so forth. These companies have tended to make the right

choices by keeping into consideration the rights of the employees. But one thing which can be

implied in comparison with the unethical practices of different companies implies that all the

organizations require ethical leadership to make sure that decisions are made in the right way and

profits are put aside without any execution with the interventions of the government (Enitan,

Ibeh, Oluremi, Olayanju & Itodo, 2020). Accountability, along with transparency, is something

that should be applied to the private sector organization from the industries to the providers. For

instance, no price gouging implications should be applied to the essential items and, at a

minimum, rate a massive burden of explanation to acquire high-class licensing of any possible

novel therapy during the period of a pandemic. Companies need to learn that the rights of all

humans, employee or consumer, should be protected. The crisis can provide an opportunity to

look upon the value of the trust and the democracy in society (Wernaart, 2018).
CORONA VIRUS AND UNETHICAL PRACTICES OF THE COMPANIES 6

Texas as a model for the USA

On March eleventh, the World Health Organization formally ordered the new strain of

coronavirus, COVID-19, as a pandemic (an overall spread of an illness). Presently, on March

thirteenth, Texas Governor Greg Abbott announced catastrophic conditions for all areas in

Texas. During this uncertain time, a considerable amount of the clinical supplies and hardware

important to battle the quick spread of the COVID-19 infection, alongside fundamental living

basics, have gotten troublesome, or even unimaginable, to track down in Texas. These things

incorporate face veils and screens, hand sanitizer, gloves, respirators, and even straightforward

necessities like bathroom tissue and cleaning items (Wilder, 2020). Because of the deficiencies,

state specialists have given harsh admonitions about cost gouging. Cost gouging is the point at

which a dealer expands the costs of products to a rate that is over the top or extreme (there is no

set definition in Texas for what adds up to "extravagant or exorbitant"). Significant expenses

alone don't imply cost gouging as merchants are permitted to set the costs of their items

(Zwolinski, 2015). As of April first, more than 4,000 cost gouging grumblings have been

documented with the Texas Attorney General's Office since the highly sensitive situation was

pronounced on March thirteenth. In the DFW region, various grumblings on value gouging of

items, for example, hand sanitizer, bathroom tissue, and filtered water have been made. On

March twenty-sixth, a cost gouging claim under the DTPA was documented against Auctions

Unlimited, a Houston-based organization. The claimant affirms that Auctions Unlimited was

selling boxes of 16 clinical evaluation face covers for as high as $180 a crate. For the most part,

these crates cost $10-$20 each (Zwolinski, 2015).

Legal action against price gouging

CORONA VIRUS AND UNETHICAL PRACTICES OF THE COMPANIES 7

If a buyer in Texas feels that the individual in question has succumbed to cost gouging,

the customer should document an official grievance with the Texas Attorney General's Office.

The Attorney General's Office will, at that point, survey the objection and figure out what the

following stages, assuming any, ought to be taken. Documenting a grumbling doesn't ensure an

examination will be opened, or a claim will be recorded. On the other side, people and

organizations ought to consistently be aware of the necessities of antitrust laws to guarantee that

they are not affected by this problem. This is significantly intense for those who buy and sell

human services items (Zwolinski, 2015). If a vendor is worried about cost gouging allegations,

that the individual should work with experienced figures who can provide insight on the

complex, and exceptionally nuanced, antitrust laws as they identify with a merchant's specific

items and deals. Experienced advice can give direction concerning the occasionally concealed

entanglements concerning cost fixing, plot, and gouging, which is particularly significant during

this season of expanded examination. Well-equipped administrative insight can give priceless

direction in exploring the intricate waters of antitrust guideline and implementation

Conclusion

The paper aims to illustrate the many activities of companies which are against the ethical

considerations in this global pandemic. As the world is suffering from the outbreak of the

coronavirus, in this crisis too, there are some individuals and companies that are trying to

maximize profit out of this situation by manipulating both consumers and employees. The paper

explains the activities of these companies and compares them with the ethical considerations by

providing an integrative literature review, while also providing the legal considerations on the act

of price gouging. Instead of facilitating the employees and the customers by focusing on the

social values, the companies are busy manipulating the employees and the customers for their
CORONA VIRUS AND UNETHICAL PRACTICES OF THE COMPANIES 8

benefits. Some authors indicate that it's considered right to make the most out of the crisis, while

others consider it unethical and discuss the legal jurisdictions following this pandemic.
CORONA VIRUS AND UNETHICAL PRACTICES OF THE COMPANIES 9

References

Alsahafi, A .J., & Chang, A. C. (2016). Knowledge, Attitudes and Behaviours of Healthcare

Workers in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to MERS Coronavirus and Other Emerging

Infectious Diseases. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health, 13, 1214.

Cetron, M., Landwirth, J. (2005). Public health and ethical considerations in planning for

quarantine. Yale J Biol Med, 78(329).

Enitan, S. S., Ibeh, I. N., Oluremi, A. S., Olayanju, A. O., & Itodo, G. E. (2020). The 2019 Novel

Coronavirus Outbreak: Current Crises, Controversies, and Global Strategies to Prevent a

Pandemic. International Journal of Pathogen Research, 4(1), 1-16.

https://doi.org/10.9734/ijpr/2020/v4i130099.

Nishiura, H., Mizumoto, K., Ejima, K., Zhong, Y., Cowling, B., & Omori, R. (2012). incubation

period as part of the case definition of severe respiratory illness caused by a novel

coronavirus. Euro Surveill, 17.

Wernaart, B. (2018). Ethics and business, a global introduction. Groningen: Noordhoff.

Wilder-Smith, M. D., & Freedman, M. D. (2020). Isolation, quarantine, social distancing and

community containment: pivotal role for old-style public health measures in the novel

coronavirus (2019-nCoV) outbreak. Journal of Travel Medicine, 27(2).

Zwolinski, M. (2015). The Ethics of Price Gouging. Business Ethics Quarterly, 18(3), 347-378.