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Martha Stewart Case

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ETH 501 Module 1 Case Assignment The Martha Stewart insider trading case was a high profile case filled with uncertainty. In order to say whether or not Stewart handled her indictment responsibly, it is necessary to start with an assumption regarding her guilt or innocence. For the purposes of this paper, based on the information I have read about the case, and based on the fact that she was found guilty of all counts (although not all specifications) in her stock conspiracy trial (with the exception of the security fraud charge which was thrown out), I will assume that she is guilty. (courttv.com) Based on that assumption, there are several reasons that Martha Stewart did not handle her indictment responsibly which can be summarized …show more content…

If the intent of these actions is to benefit MSLO as a whole, than perhaps she is doing the responsible thing as the CEO of this corporation. But, then again, if the statements are full of lies, then she is not accepting responsibility for her actions, and accountability is expected of any individual, especially a CEO. Finally, if the intent is to improve her own self image then we see another example of the ethical egoist and again an example of irresponsible behavior. No matter what, starting from the assumption that Stewart is guilty, there is no way to make these actions purely ethical or responsible. (findlaw.com) If Stewart did indeed receive a call on 27 December 2001 informing her that Waksal was attempting to unload all of his stock held with Merrill Lynch & Co., there is no doubt that information was received in violation of Merrill Lynch regulations. Simply receiving that information is not an irresponsible act in itself, but the actions taken once that information was received are what are in question. Lying about receiving the information, fabricating a story to cover up the actions resulting from the information, providing false information to hamper the ensuing information, then making false statements for the purpose of increasing investor confidence and preserving stock value are certainly not responsible actions for the CEO of any corporation. Like most problems, there are many links to this chain. Waksal was

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