Jail Time for Corporate Execs Who Hide Dangers to Consumers, Workers
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) today reintroduced the Hide No Harm Act, which would impose criminal penalties directly on high-level corporate executives, including potentially jail time, when they knowingly hide dangers to consumers and workers that result in death or injury. Lisa Gilbert, executive vice president of Public Citizen and co-chair of the Coalition for Sensible Safeguards, released the following statement:
“Countless lives have been lost because corporations intentionally hid life-threatening dangers to the public. The litany of devastating examples like the Boeing 737 Max airplane crashes, the Big Pharma induced opioid epidemic, and the recent infant formula safety crisis, are sadly endless. Over and over again, fines – even historic ones – have proven to be ineffective at holding corporate actors accountable and ensuring they don’t break the law again. We need tough new criminal penalties for those at the top. The Hide No Harm Act would protect the public by holding individual corporate executives accountable with jail time. Bad actors must be punished, and Congress should pass this commonsense law immediately.”