“Jobs, Not Lawsuits”: A False Dichotomy

Camryn Hansen

Contributor

1 CommentPrint ArticleSubscribe

In response to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s annual “legal reform summit,” an event whose slogan fallaciously called for “jobs, not lawsuits” (as though lawsuits were somehow responsible for the country’s current economic crisis), the AAJ has released a report called “They Knew and Failed To.”

The AAJ report, found at www.justice.org/clips/TheyKnewAndFailedTo.pdf, demonstrates the country’s dire need for corporate accountability in the face of products that companies have known were dangerous, but have kept on the market due to their profitability.

Examples in the report of company-approved hazards include AstraZeneca burying evidence linking the anti-psychotic Seroquel to massive weight gain and diabetes; Johnson & Johnson doctoring study results to hide the increased risk of blood clots, strokes, and heart attacks associated with its birth control patch, OrthoEvra; Second Chance Body Armor deliberately manufacturing defective bullet proof vests (used by police officers, the military, and the president); and Firestone’s refusal to act after discovering its tires were falling apart on the road and killing hundreds of people.

All of these companies were ultimately held responsible for the harms they deliberately caused because of the civil protections generations of Americans have fought for. The Chamber of Commerce’s continued scapegoating of lawyers and lawsuits as the root of all American evils is irresponsible at best; democracy-killing at worst.