It is certainly possible for companies to break the law and face ramifications. A company that is accused of committing fraud may face significant financial fines, for example. In some situations, criminal allegations could be serious enough to put the owner of the company in jeopardy of serving prison time.
But what if an employee is blamed for things that the company did? Or perhaps the employee was instructed or urged to take a certain action, which turned out to be illegal. The company then blames the employee as if they acted on their own, when they were actually just following the instructions they were given.
Selling user data
For example, companies are often supposed to get permission in advance if they are going to collect and sell user data. Customers have the option to opt out of this collection process if they would like their data to be kept private.
But say that a company simply collects everyone’s data and sells it, whether they opted in or out. When the company is accused of violating those customers’ rights, the CEO claims that a certain employee was simply acting on their own, violating the regulations or making critical mistakes.
In other words, while it is clear that the company has broken the law, the CEO is trying to blame a singular employee for taking an unapproved action, while the employee may allege that they were simply following the instructions they were given.
Defense options
If you find yourself in this position, it is very important to understand all the defense options you have, as the ramifications can be very serious.
