Amazon: Pro-Union Smalls Fired at Amazon for Starting Union (April 2022)

 The Case:

Amazon is one of the world’s largest online retailers and continues to be one of the fastest-growing companies in the world. With massive fulfillment centers strategically placed throughout the country, they pride themselves on the ability to provide next-day or 2-day delivery for almost all items. Being established nearly 28 years ago has provided them with the ability to learn and experience new ways of doing business. While Amazon has changed and or modified their operations to adapt with modern day needs, they still have areas that require improvement. Although they do provide employees with above minimum wage pay, healthcare coverage and free tuition for college, many employees feel that this is not enough. One area of improvement is how they treat their employees as expendable objects. Having this mentality has created a major push for unionization of workers within fulfillment centers.

For years Amazon executives have stopped any attempts at unionization by implementing anti-union posters and pamphlets in warehouses. Employees and well recognized labor unions like the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU) have tried to establish themselves within Amazon for years but have been unsuccessful (Solon NBC NEWS). RWDSU representatives have claimed that workers voted against unionization, due to the fact that they were victims of intimidation by Amazon associates. Seemingly every time a new laborer movement tries to unionize, there’s always a lack of voters or corruption in the voting process.

            As the COVID-19 Pandemic began to spread throughout the US, many people feared the outcome due to the unpredictability of the virus. With grocery stores running low on food, various stores and restaurants shutting down, retailers like Amazon were deemed as an essential business. This meant that workers were forced to meet their daily quotas while also trying to accommodate COVID-19 safety protocols and procedures. Christian Smalls, a supervisor in an Amazon fulfillment location in Staten Island, New York, was fired in March of 2020. After noticing the harsh working conditions and lack of safety protocols he decided to protest by organizing a walkout over the lack of worker protections (Selyukh NPR). At this time, he was suddenly discharged from the company for violating their safety protocols. This departure from the company was a shock to Smalls as he was only trying to improve the safety standards for himself and the employees during the start of the pandemic. The sudden departure reassures the fact that the company treats its employees as expendable objects.

            Smalls knew that he was fired as a result of his walkout just hours prior. The actions on behalf of Amazon did not sit well with Smalls as he knew he needed to stand up against the massive e-commerce. A short time after being fired he formed the Amazon Labor Union (ALU). Smalls did not have a huge financial backing or support like the RWDSU, so he utilized GoFundMe to generate support for his message. Using his personal experiences within the company and generated funds, he hosted informational events at bus stops and locations near the facility. These events allowed him to steadily attract members to his “grassroots union drive”. Smalls and his organizers “demanded higher wages, longer breaks, paid sick leave and paid time off for injuries sustained on the job” (Hsu NPR). While Amazon completely disagrees with the idea of unionization, Smalls and his supporters in the ALU argued, this needs to happen as they’re one of the richest retailers in the world.

Amazon completely opposes any unionization in their facilities as they have noticed the negative effect that a union can have on a business’s profitability and production. They feel that for 28 years they have produced jobs that allow for their employees to live a decent life, while having enough money to buy the things they want. Heather Knox an Amazon Spokesperson provided the companies reasoning for opposing unionization; “Our employees choose to work at Amazon because we offer some of the best jobs available everywhere we hire, and we encourage anyone to compare our total compensation package, health benefits, and workplace environment to any other company with similar jobs” (Hartmans Business Insider). Although they provide some of the best compensation for their workers, many employees like Smalls feel that the risk of working in the warehouses is not worth the reward. That is why Smalls is so adamant about establishing a union.

       On Friday, April 1, 2022 Smalls and fellow workers in the Staten Island facility voted to demonstrate that a majority of employees agreed with unionization. When the results were tallied it was clear that Smalls and his supporters were successful in their pro-union push. Miraculously, they established the first ever union at Amazon; The Amazon Labor Union. Currently the ALU includes 8,300 workers within the Staten Island warehouse. As a result of the union forming there are eight immediate changes that the workers are advocating for: (Health and Safety, Pay, Promotions, Overtime, Working Conditions, Transportation, Time, and Union-Busting), (Amazon Labor Union). These changes will alleviate some of the economic impact and current wage gaps in the company. 

Stakeholders:                                                                                      

The stakeholders in this specific case include the current employees, future employees, general public, top executives, and shareholders. Amazons’ reputation and future success can be affected by the actions of the ALU. Together these stakeholders play a critical part in the fulfillment center operations. The current employees are affected as they can face repercussions for wanting to join in voting for a union. While the current employees at the Staten Island fulfillment center won’t experience any issue, due to the fact of being in a union. Other warehouses across the country may experience issues as their employees are not in the ALU and therefore not protected by the rules and regulations of the union. Future employees can also be affected as a result of the union being formed. With the formation of a union at the Staten Island location, many new workers might apply for employment there as they see the benefits of working in a union. Being a part of a union is favorable as it allows employees to negotiate for better working conditions and benefits. 

The general public and top executives can be affected by the outcome of the ALU in the future. For example, if workers in the ALU and Amazon's executives are unable to agree upon safety standards, pay or benefits, there can be delays in production as a result of union workers striking. The shareholders of Amazon are at risk in the pro-union movement, as there seems to be uncertainty as to what can happen within other fulfillment centers across the country. One fear is that other fulfillment centers across the country will also unionize, resulting in a massive unionization movement throughout the whole company. Shareholders may view this change as good or bad if they disagree with the direction the company is heading. This can result in shareholders buying more shares of Amazon stock or selling off their shares, all depending upon if they see the company continuing to grow exponentially or decrease in size.  

Individualism:

Based on the ethical theory from Milton Friedman known as Individualism, theorizes that a company or owners sole ethical responsibility is to increase profits for owners or stockholders as long as they are obeying legal responsibilities. Tibor Machan took Friedman’s theory and included the statement that in order for Individualism to be ethical the actual goals of the business must not be to make a profit. (Salazar)

The reaction of Amazon for Chris Smalls trying to develop a union was not unethical according to Individualism. It was not necessarily illegal for Amazon to fire Smalls for starting the protest outside of the Staten Island facility since he broke protocol that Amazon set into place. Federal law states that “working time is for work, so your employer may maintain and enforce non-discriminatory rules limiting solicitation and distribution”(NLRB), so firing Smalls without the pandemic protocol would still be legal since he led chaos within the facility during working hours. Amazon tends to be “anti-union” because they feel it is in the best interest of the customers, shareholders, associate companies and it has been mentioned that they feel a direct employee to employer relation is better than a union, therefore according to Machan, their reaction to unions are not unethical as well. The lack of unions in the workplace potentially increases profits since the union can reduce production output on a day to day basis, ultimately diminishing the profit the company can make significantly.  By firing Smalls and attempting to prevent the unionization from occurring, from Amazon’s viewpoint they were protecting profits and eliminating an area of concern that would bring them down. From an Individualistic standpoint, the actions taken by Amazon were perfectly ethical and the right thing to do as long as the termination was legal. The leaked information about how they would use the publicity of the firing of Smalls’ to their benefit to prevent the talk of unions in the news as well as the workplace seems to have malicious characteristics for both Smalls’ termination as well as their anti-union tactics. The leaked information reveals unethical actions from an Individualistic approach because it is illegal to fire an employee for simply spreading union information and for personal gain motives.

Utilitarianism:

A utilitarian would view the outcome of the pro-union movement as the most ethical and beneficial outcome. Based upon the belief of a utilitarian, “a businesses actions should aim to maximize the happiness in the long run for all conscious beings that are affected by the business actions” (Salazar 17). Until the formation of the ALU a utilitarian would not view the actions as impermissible. The reason being that employees in the fulfillment center were not treated properly and faced consequences whenever they tried to bring attention to the issues they faced. On Amazon's behalf these actions were unethical from a utilitarian stand-point and unsafe from the perspective of the workers.

         Although a utilitarian views the actions as unethical, the executives and shareholders believe they’re providing excellent opportunities for their employees to maximize happiness without being in a union. Amazon continues to oppose unions and argue against them as they feel they do not have their employees’ best interests in mind. They feel that “Unions could lead to less collaborative relationships between employees and their supervisors, and could favor employees with seniority over new employees” (Hartmans Business Insider). With a union creating a divide between the workers and management, this would disrupt the principles and foundations that Amazon was founded upon. Many executives do not want an outside organization interfering with their internal business operations. They also fear that participating in a union will cost them more money than they can afford, thus limiting the high hourly rate and benefits employees are currently paid. This is the reason why some executives and shareholders oppose fulfillment centers from unionizing like the Staten Island fulfillment center did. 

Unlike the executives at Amazon a utilitarian would see the actions of the ALU as permissible. These actions are accepted as they will maximize the pleasure of the employees and minimize any pain and suffering that resulted from working in the fulfillment centers. With the little time and experience Christian Smalls had, he was able to create a union movement in one of the world’s largest e-commerce.

Shortly after establishing a union in the Staten Island fulfillment center, Smalls began to receive letters and emails from across the globe. Many of the letters came from current employees encouraging him to take the ALU to more fulfillment center locations. In an interview with National Public Radio Smalls stated; “the world is definitely paying attention now and these workers are paying attention now, which is the best thing possible because that’s exactly what we plan on doing…we want to spread like wildfire across the nation” (Selyukh NPS). By following through on his goal to establish a union that acts in the employee’s best interest, he was able to maximize happiness and promote the ideas that utilitarianism was founded upon.

A utilitarian would also agree with the pro-union movement as it results in long-term benefits for the workers. This unionization movement is just-in-time as currently there is a larger wage gap than ever before. The additional wages and benefits for union workers would take effect immediately, preventing any future cases similar to what Smalls experienced. By allowing unionization throughout all the fulfillment centers, Amazon would be making themselves a more attractive company for future employees and stockholders. Allowing employees to have a greater voice in the company, they must realize that employees will take their union agreement seriously as it maximizes their happiness in the long run. The pro-union movement may also result in more shareholders feeling inclined to purchase Amazon stock, as they know the company will operate with their employees’ interests in mind.  

Kantianism:

For this case, there were both positive and negative aspects when viewing it through the lens of Kantianism. One scenario that would be viewed as particularly negative was how Chris Smalls acted when he was trying to make a change within the company. He organized a protest in which many rules that Amazon had specifically put in regarding the pandemic were violated. Rules that had to do with social distancing, gathering during a quarantine, and size of the groups were all specific rules that were violated. A Kantian would not necessarily be pleased with Chris smalls because a key part of Kantianism is rational decision making. “Don’t act inconsistently in your own actions or consider yourself exempt from the rules.” (Salazar 5). It could be viewed that Smalls interpreted it as okay to exempt himself from the rules on the day he organized the protest which caused him to be fired initially.

  Another belief that Kantians have is to, “be motivated by Good Will, seeking to do what is right because it is right.” (Salazar 5). Smalls had good intentions with what he was attempting to do. He may have just not gone about it in the best way. He believed that how the company was handling their protocols with the COVID-19 pandemic was morally wrong. One of his major concerns was with how employees were being notified about quarantine and exposures within the work environment. In Smalls’ case, he had an exposure to someone with COVID-19 on March 11, 2020. Amazon failed to notify him about having to quarantine for nearly two weeks. They finally told him he was required to quarantine on March 28, 2020. This came so long after his exposure that the incubation period for the virus had actually ended. He wanted to make a change and he was motivated to help make a change for a better, safer work environment for him and his employees because it is the right thing to do which is something that follows along with Kantian ethics.

Looking at how the company handled the situation from the point of view of a kantian, Amazon did a very poor job with how they handled their protocols. Smalls was just one employee that stood up to them but he was not alone and was doing it for many employees within the company. The principle of Kantianism that Amazon did not follow was, “Respect people, their autonomy, and individual needs and differences”(Salazar 5). The pandemic was something that was new to everyone. People had all different ways of going about it and the top priority was making sure that everyone felt safe. There were a variety of ways in which this was accomplished but Amazon did not seem to care at first even though their employees tried to display their unhappiness. Amazon expected the rules they put in place to be done a certain way without taking into account any other ways of doing it. Many companies were able to respect people's individual needs during this time by ways of working on zoom or careful tracking of exposures, but Amazon failed to do things that way which is why it would be viewed negatively by Kantians.

Virtue Theory:

The virtue theory is an ethical theory that entails people shouldn’t focus on rules to follow but to instead focus on what your core values and personality traits would tell you to do (Ethical Theory, 2018). For example, if you are a person who is generally a compassionate person, act with compassion in all decisions you make. Virtue theorists believe that the way to truly find who you are as a person is to, “suggest that once you can imagine what a good person is like, you should behave in any situation as you think such a person would behave.” (Ethical Theory, 2018). Other ways to find yourself is to realize what characteristics truly make you flourish and to act off those. 

With this case regarding ALU vs. Amazon the virtue theorist would find most of what the ALU is doing as morally required. When Smalls led the walkout, it was because he acted based off who he was all about. Determination is what drove Smalls the most. His relentless determination is what led to all his decisions that he made in this case. After being fired by Amazon Smalls could’ve just given up and found a different job but instead stood his ground because that was just the type of person he was. He decided to start the bus stop barbeques and the GoFundMe because he was determined to see Amazon own up to their issues. Yes, the styles were unorthodox, but he needed to find a way to get to the workers and that was the only effective way he found. Based on the virtue theory Smalls made actions off who he was as a person which in this case is determined. He did what he thought was right and ran with it. He was even arrested by Amazon earlier this year for trespassing while they were delivering food and union materials to the warehouse parking lot. It doesn’t matter if somebody else thinks it wrong according to the theory because he was doing what he thought was right. According to Smalls, “Amazon doesn't become Amazon without the people, and we make Amazon what it is.” (Hsu & Selyukh, 2022) That quote alone explains his thought process and explains what his personality traits give off. What Amazon is doing on the other hand is impermissible according to the theory. Amazon’s slogan is Work Hard, Have Fun, Make History. That is what Amazon’s core principle values are supposed to be. According to the workers on the other hand Amazon is not actually acting according to those values. Two of three values are being instructed but one is not being hit at all according to employees. There is no fun to be had at Amazon. Not once has Smalls expressed how he’s had fun working at Amazon he only has ever talked about the tough work environment and how unfair the wages were. Apparently, he can’t be lying with over 2,000 of his colleagues being behind him. The virtue theory in this case would be in favor of Smalls and would be against Amazon.  

Action Plan: 

Amazon fulfillment centers across the nation are facing issues with employees being treated poorly and they need to implement actions to fix this problem. A labor union is an organized association of workers that is formed to protect the further rights and interests of the workers. The US has hundreds of labor unions operating in different industries throughout the country, however most people don't realize that unions are critical to creating equality and fair wages for employees. Not having a union established is unfair and unethical to the employees who want one and would benefit from having one at the world's largest online retailer. Without access to a union employees are affected as their wages, compensation plans and benefit packages are not enough. They are often inadequate as no one is there to fight or negotiate for the employees. The current issue is that Amazon does not act in favor of their employees and put their billion dollar profits before their employees. This is wrong because without the employees, the fulfillment centers would be unable to meet the current demand. Listening to the voices of the employees is critical as a union will meet their employees needs, while also operating ethically and being profitable for the company. 

Amazon's current mission statement is “we strive to offer our customers the lowest possible prices, the best available selection, and the utmost convenience’’ (Amazon). It’s obvious that the current mission statement is completely customer focused and mentions nothing about their employees. A new mission statement is needed in order to guide the company into a new era of employee focused improvements. We recommend that “Amazon devotes its resources and technologies to improving working conditions and resources for their employees, by allowing them to join the Amazon Labor Union”. This new mission statement still follows their original idea of providing customers with the best possible experience. But also provides their employees with the best possible care and benefits, as they are focused on their employees and strive to provide the best for them. 

As the Staten Island fulfillment center is now a part of the ALU several values they should abide by are: well-being for employees, trust, constant improvement, and teamwork. 

• Well-being for Employees - The safety and livelihood of their employees is more important than meeting production deadlines or daily quotas. Instead of treating employees as replaceable objects, they need to treat them as human beings with emotions. Amazon is responsible for the health and safety of their employees and they need to address this issue more than ever.   

• Trust - Creating a relationship between executives and employees allows for trust to be established. Allowing employees to freely communicate their concerns or observations to the fulfillment center managers / executives  allows for a connection to be made. 

• Constant Improvement - As new technologies and ways of doing business are constantly improving, this new to be considered in the workplace. Thus improving upon and limiting the strenuous or labor intensive activities employees do on a daily basis.   

• Teamwork - Communication between executives and employees allows for ideas and responsibilities to be shared throughout the company. This helps to reduce the stress some employees feel when they are given meticulous tasks. 

To ensure ethical productivity and monitoring of ethics at fulfillment centers across the nation, they need to take actions similar to how the ALU was formed by Christain Smalls. Having a union established and union representatives like Smalls allows employees to approach them with issues and or recommendations for improvements. The ALU also prevents executives from abruptly firing an employee, similar to what smalls experienced. 

Hiring someone that is experienced with ethical behavior or experienced in business ethics is critical to Amazon flourishing after the ALU movement. The person hired could use their knowledge and determine if tasks are unethical or how to improve these processes for employees. Hiring a production manager / analyst would allow them to make recommendations based on what they observe. They can also be critical in determining if a task should be substituted with a robot, this would prevent employees from doing monotonous or physically demanding tasks.

To promote having union workers in fulfillment centers, Amazon can advertise on boxes saying “This package was packed by union workers”. They can also create advertisements saying that they agree to increase the number of union workers or unionize a majority of fulfillment centers by 2028. To create a better relationship between the executives and employees they should also allow for employees to freely express their ideas and or protest whenever an agreement cannot be reached.     

Moving forward they will need to add upon their existing values to incorporate the ideas of their employees. Also new and current employees should not be threatened or forced to do things outside of their union agreement. Adhering to the union agreement established between the ALU and executives will promote greater business profits and productivity for the company. In turn more people will want to shop at Amazon as they agree with the idea of unionization and feel that employees are treated fairly. This plan conforms to the original mission statement because the company will still be producing great products that many people can enjoy, without violating the ethics and values of their employees. 

Authors:

Daniel Doyle 

Dominic Gallant

Andrew Huta

Logan Paranto

References: 

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Hsu, Andrea. “In a Stunning Victory, Amazon Workers on Staten Island Vote for a Union.” NPR, NPR, 1 Apr. 2022, https://www.npr.org/2022/04/01/1089318684/amazon-labor-union-staten-island-election-bessemer-alabama-warehouse-workers.

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Salazar, Heather. “Business Ethics and Economics and Individualism”, Business Ethics, Western

 New England University, April 15, 2022

Selyukh, Alina. “Chris Smalls Started Amazon's 1st Union. He's Now Heard from Workers at 50 Warehouses.” NPR, NPR, 6 Apr. 2022, https://www.npr.org/2022/04/06/1091130929/chris-smalls-amazon-union-50-warehouses.

Selyukh, Alina. “He Was Fired by Amazon 2 Years Ago. Now He's the Force behind the Company's 1st Union.” NPR, NPR, 2 Apr. 2022, https://www.npr.org/2022/04/02/1090353185/amazon-union-chris-smalls-organizer-staten-island.

Dr. Joseph Mercola Shares Disinformation on COVID-19 Vaccines (2020-2021)

 

Doctor Joseph Mercola 

Ethics Case Controversy

        Mercola has been under a lot of heat within the past year as he continues to fearmonger the people during times of uncertainty. Along with the COVID-19 vaccines, Doctor Mercola has publicly shared his opinions on being against all vaccines. Mercola has been the top funder of the National Vaccine Information Center “which has been the forefront of a movement that has led some parents to forgo or delay immunizing their children against vaccine-preventable diseases” (Satija). Doctor Mercola says he donated 2.9 million dollars to the center as he believes in their anti-vaccination mission. It also helps that their mission aligns with his company’s agenda to focus on alternative remedies such as supplements and vitamins rather than scientifically proven medicine. Doctor Mercola has stopped seeing patients to focus on his business selling these alternative forms of treatment to illnesses. Doctor Mercola is profiting off of the anti-vaccination groups.

    With all of the disinformation spreading due to Doctor Mercola, Mercola was named by the Center of Countering Digital Hate as the top spot in the “disinformation dozen”.  The disinformation dozen is a group made up of twelve people that range from physicians, anti-vaccinators, and those who promote alternative medication who have been spreading false information about COVID-19 online. A Facebook analysis showed that this disinformation dozen was the cause of 73% of almost 700,000 anti-COVID-19 vaccination posts. Out of this group, Mercola has been the most far-reaching spreader of disinformation. With it being known that some medically licensed professionals are speaking out against COVID-19, the “Federation of State Medical Boards issued a statement making it clear that doctors who generate and spread COVID-19 misinformation could be subject to disciplinary action, including having their licenses suspended or revoked… such unethical or unprofessional conduct may prompt their respective Board to take action that could put their certification at risk” (Knight). Though it is known that Doctor Mercola is spreading this false information about COVID-19, no action has been taken against him at this time.

    When in need of medical advice, the public is advised to seek out doctors for their medical professional guidance. However, during the COVID-19 pandemic, it was questioned whether all doctors were giving sound medical advice. Doctor Mercola, an osteopathic physician, has been sharing disinformation on the COVID-19 vaccines which would stray some away from taking a vaccination approach to the virus. Doctor Mercola “declared that coronavirus vaccines were ‘a medical fraud’ and said the injections did not prevent infections, provide immunity or stop transmission of the disease” (Frenkel).            Doctor Mercola has been known for spreading false information mainly through different social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube, and has published over 600 articles on these different platforms. These articles rather than bluntly stating Mercola’s opinions, ask questions about the safety of vaccines and use easily refuted studies as evidence. These different social media companies have responded by flagging the false claimed posts as well as taking some down that goes against the community guidelines of COVID-19. Other than that, there have been no real consequences for Doctor Mercola’s actions. Doctor Mercola makes sure his articles that he publishes about COVID-19 are available to all by translating them to multiple different languages which maximize his potential audience. Rather than focusing on the accepted studies about COVID-19 which are in favor of the vaccine, Mercola is focused on turning people away from vaccines and pushing unapproved and unproven products. For instance, on April 9, 2021, Doctor Mercola shared in a YouTube video that “inhaling hydrogen peroxide through a nebulizer could prevent or cure COVID-19” (Knight).

    Along with the use of hydrogen peroxide, Doctor Mercola promotes different natural supplements, vitamins, and diets, which are sold by his company, to cure and prevent COVID-19. On Mercola’s website, Mercola sells Liposomal Vitamin C, Liposomal Vitamin D3, and Quercetin and Pterostilbene which he claims will mitigate, prevent, treat, diagnose, or cure COVID-19 in people. The Food and Drug Administration sent a warning letter to Mercola about the misbranding of his products in relation to COVID-19 and how these unapproved products were in violation of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. The Food and Drug Administration advised Mercola to take immediate action to address the violations that were stated in the letter and to review his website, products, and other promotional materials to not misbrand anything about COVID-19.

Stakeholders

The stakeholders in this specific case would be Doctor Joseph Mercola, other doctors and researchers in the medical field, anti-vaccinators, social media platforms, shareholders of these platforms, and the general public. Everything that happened in this specific case stemmed from the actions of Doctor Joseph Mercola. All of his actions affect his reputation; therefore, he is affected in this case. Along with Doctor Mercola, other doctors and researchers are affected by this case as well. Though Doctor Mercola is affecting his own reputation with his actions, he also is a representative of the professional medical field, and his actions will reflect on other doctors and medical professionals. Those who are a part of anti-vaccination groups are affected by Mercola’s actions in this case as they are normally unrepresented in the medical field and with the “disinformation dozen” and more specifically Doctor Mercola, there is more representation of this group. Social media platforms are affected as this is where Doctor Mercola is spreading a majority of his information. The shareholders of these platforms are affected as the way the social media platforms handle the situation can alter the future value of the company’s stock. The general public is affected because the vaccines are readily available for everyone and therefore the people are having to decide whether to listen to Doctor Mercola and not get the vaccine or to not listen to him. Further analysis of the stakeholders is later discussed in the utilitarianism portion.

Individualism

An individualist would view the case of Dr. Mercola spreading misinformation and unproven medical treatments for Covid-19 is ethically permissible, but not morally okay. Under individualism, the only goal of a business is to profit, so the only obligation that the businessperson has is to maximize profit for their owner and stockholders within the law of the land (Salazar 17). Dr. Mercola has sold books and natural medication to maximize profit and he does it within the law, when related to the Covid-19 case. The only unlawful action he committed in the past was selling tanning beds named Vitality and D-lite for $1,200 to $4,000 to reduce cancer. But since Dr. Mercola’s health claims about the tanning beds were false advertising, he had to pay $2.95 million in refunds to customers. Currently regarding to the Covid-19 case, Dr. Mercola has not sold any product that is against the law. Dr. Mercola’s net worth derived largely from his books and treatments and has grown to in excess of $100 million (Frenkel).

Doctor Mercola's book about COVID-19 

Dr. Mercola has maximized profits from selling his book, The Truth about Covid-19 and selling supplements that he said would cure Covid-19. The profits from sales do not only satisfy Dr. Mercola’s business expectation, but also his stockholders as he gives back some of that money as a thank you for investing into his company. In Dr. Mercola’s defense many businesspeople such as magazine publishers spread “fake news” to get the public’s attention to buy their product, which maximizes profit. It is clear that Dr. Mercola and other anti-vaccinates actions were ethical under the individualist’s view since he maximizes profit while doing it under the law. But although it is ethical, it is not morally right. The misinformation being spread about the Covid-19 vaccine is creating confusion and anxiety for people who are thinking about being vaccinated. At the end of the day the disinformation is “playing with people’s lives” as it did to someone important to me.

Utilitarianism

A utilitarian would view Doctor Mercola spreading disinformation about COVID-19 vaccines as unethical. Under utilitarianism, businesses should aim to maximize long-term happiness in their actions for all conscious beings that are affected by the action (Salazar 19). According to Salazar, “long-range perspective can help businesses avoid short-sighted thinking that often boosts profits momentarily but leads to a quick demise” (Salazar 20). In The Case Manual, Salazar also states that utilitarianism “is used to analyze the costs and benefits of a particular course of action” (Salazar 19). In this specific case regarding Doctor Mercola sharing disinformation on COVID-19 vaccines, happiness was not maximized for the majority of the stakeholders which is as follows:

Doctor Joseph Mercola: Doctor Joseph Mercola will ultimately be positively impacted in this situation. With the case being strictly revolved around him profiting off of spreading misinformation and misbranding his products, Doctor Mercola will be happy. Although Doctor Mercola is happy during the time of the pandemic that his message is being spread and listened to, this is only a short-term effect of happiness.

Other Doctors and Researchers in the Medical Field: The case based on Doctor Mercola negatively impacts other doctors and researchers in the medical field. With Mercola spreading around false information against the COVID-19 vaccine, it looks like the medical community is not a united front during this time of confusion and discredits the community. Mercola’s actions do not maximize happiness for the other doctors and researchers as they now have to do “damage control” to inform patients who are misinformed that Mercola has been using studies that have been easily refuted and disregarded as evidence. The majority of the medical community aggress with the science behind vaccines and Mercola’s actions are not maximizing their happiness.

Social Media Platforms: Social media platforms are negatively impacted by these false informed posts and videos made by Doctor Joseph Mercola. These posts go against COVID-19 community guidelines of these platforms which is negative towards the companies. In order to fix these issues, the social media platforms have begun flagging and taking down COVID-19 posts that have incorrect or false information. With this going on, Doctor Mercola began taking down some of his own posts, but that did not stop some of his other posts from coming down, but him originally posting these types of posts does not maximize the happiness of these platforms.

Shareholders of the Social Media Sites: The shareholders of the social media platforms used by Doctor Mercola to share his false information are benefited. The shareholders are benefited in this specific case because the platforms have taken a stance against COVID-19 false informed posts and will either flag them or take the posts down. With the social media platforms taking this stance, it benefits the shareholders as this will likely increase the stock price and make the shareholder more profit.

General Public: Overall, the public is negatively impacted by Doctor Mercola’s actions. Although the anti-vaccinators are benefited as they have representation in the medical community and can use Mercola’s articles as their own evidence, the general public will be negatively impacted. It is no surprise that the COVID-19 pandemic has been a wide-range state of confusion as there has not been a pandemic like this in our lifetimes. Information came out as it was found as there was no previous information regarding this virus affecting humans. COVID-19 transmission has been a large risk as there have been many deaths due to the virus as patients are immunocompromised, unvaccinated, or for other reasons. By Mercola misbranding his own products and trying to turn the public away from getting the vaccine, he is putting his own happiness before everyone else’s which is against utilitarian views.

Overall, stakeholders are not benefiting from the specific case at hand. With this case not benefiting the majority and not maximizing the long-term happiness of the majority of stakeholders, the actions of Doctor Joseph Mercola are unethical and morally wrong.

Kantianism

It is unequivocally clear that Dr. Mercola and many of the other Disinformation Dozen are using the American People as a mere means to achieve an end. Most of these spreaders of false information all have one similar goal, and that is to do whatever is necessary to increase their popularity and prestige as well as their financial interests. And how is it they are doing this? By using humans as a mere means. These actions, a Kantian would argue, are morally impermissible. It is the view of a Kantian that one must act consistently with one’s own rules while never considering oneself exempt, where it is imperative that one must follow the Formula of Humanity: never treat another human as a mere means but rather as an end. Whether one is acting in a morally permissible manner, is determined through the categorical imperative. The Categorical Imperative is what enables an individual to determine whether he is acting rationally, where if one is acting rationally, they are subsequently acting in a morally permissible manner. According to these rules, Dr. Mercola’s actions are morally impermissible. It can be determined that Mercola did in fact treat his readers as a mere means by one criterion alone, he lied to them. The act of lying to an individual is to treat them with contempt while assuming that they are not worthy of the truth. As a doctor, Mercola must have known that his conclusions were false, regardless he still published these articles in hopes that it would spark a reaction to bring him popularity. In his book he states that the “vaccine alters your genetic coding” (Frenkel), this is him lying, this is him using people as a mere means. Now that we can see he blatantly used humans a mere means we must look for the end to which he used these people. By publishing these fallacies, he provoked a paranoid audience, encouraging people to rapidly purchase the book, placing him on the New York Times best-selling list (Frenkel). The prestige and honor of publishing a book that makes it to this list was his goal, the ends in this scenario. By lying to people, he became an even more well-known doctor; this is the epitome of what Kant would deem morally impermissible.

Virtue Theory 

The virtue theory is based on Aristotle functionalism and it says that we should base goodness upon what a thing's purpose and characteristics are. Everything has a purpose, and we have to figure out what that thing's purpose is to determine if that thing is good at meeting its purpose. We should be functioning well and living out our purpose in order to live a good happy life. To achieve this, we need to be exercising our rationality, meaning we also need to get along in society. Not only should we be rational in ourselves but rational when it comes to living together as human beings in a society. What enables us to survive and thrive and allows us to properly function are our virtues and our character traits. Some of these virtues applied though the case of Dr. Mercola are:

Courage: According to vaccine activists what Dr. Mercola displayed was instead a vice, an act of cowardness. To be courageous is to stand up for what is right, but in their eyes, he is on the wrong side of the controversy. They would argue that he is uncredible and is too afraid to face the truth that the vaccine is safe because it would go against all his past claims about how vaccines are a fraud. On the other hand, anti-vaxxers would argue the opposite. They would champion him on his courage to say what many ought not to dare say in this kind of political climate. He put his opinion out there for others to read even though it may cost him his platform, therefore he is standing up for his beliefs and what they believe to be right.

Honesty: Dr. Mercola never sources the information he states in his articles, and rather he comes up with these baseless claims himself or repeats the many different conspiracies on the internet regarding the Covid and the effectiveness of masks. There has been an abundance of factual researched evidence that both the vaccine and masks are effective and safe, which the majority of trustworthy doctors agree with. Therefore, in no way is Mercola displaying the virtue of honesty.

Temperance/Self-Control: There is no balance in Dr. Mercola’s messages. He will call the vaccine anything but safe and will continuously push the many conspiracies that he happens to come across. He wants people to buy his alternatives to the vaccine, meaning it is likely he will never admit that vaccines are effective. Where there is more talk about Mercola’s supplements there is more opportunity to make money, so Mercola has ended up publishing over 600 articles that then get reshared thousands of times. Due to his excessive amounts of posts that only convey his opinion, he lacks temperance or self-control.

Justice/Fairness: None of Dr. Mercola’s supplements are approved by the FDA and he has gotten in trouble many times in the past with the administration for selling them. Without FDA approval his supplements can be considered a non-quality product which isn’t fair to consumers. Along with not selling good quality products, he doesn’t consider any perspective other than his own, often making false claims against reputable sources. Even in the context of masks which are very much proven to stop the spread of Covid, he continues to claim that they do not work. Without providing his consumers with a clear approval that justifies him selling his own goods and not respecting other viewpoints on the matter, Mercola does not have the virtue of justice or fairness. 

Action Plan

Dr. Mercola has shared many disinformation articles on Facebook  

Dr. Mercola's actions are a danger to society’s well-being that immediately need to be addressed. His anti Covid vaccine rhetoric that he spreads across his website and various platforms has scared many people away from getting the life-saving vaccine. Instead he continues to push the narrative that the supplements he sells on his website are proven to do a better job at curing and treating Covid than the vaccine. While many people are growing frustrated with social media sites' crackdown on Covid disinformation, there are some steps Mercola could take to stay within the guidelines of social media sites and the food and drug administration. If Mercola wishes to notify others of information regarding the vaccine then he should only base his scientific conclusions on reliable research. Many of the posts that get taken down by social media sites are the posts that contain unreliable research that Mercola made up himself. This change will allow him to still voice his opinion and make profits without getting his posts taken down. From society’s perspective, citing reliable information may disclose that Mercola now has a weaker argument against the vaccine, meaning people who were once scared of the vaccine may be more open to receiving it. Any product that isn’t FDA approved to treat or cure Covid-19 should not be marketed as if they are able to on Mercola’s website. This ensures that Mercola is staying within FDA guidelines and isn’t harming people with falsely advertising his products. To ensure that society can find more reliable information regarding the Covid-19 vaccine, all social media platforms need to do their part in eliminating misinformation about Covid-19. Dr. Mercola should also limit his information to only his website and books. This will allow CDC and other reliable sources' proven facts about Covid-19 to have more of an impact on social media sites, which will lead to more reassurance to those considering the vaccine. These changes to Dr. Mercola’s actions will not only help his company operate ethically but also save more lives. Need two other ideas. Perhaps stop posting on social media sites altogether and just on his website where he will have less of a reach? Only put this information in books so it isn't spreading like rapid first.

Doctor Mercola’s website should have a mission statement to provide supplements for health related issues that are accurately promoted in a safe and efficient way. This mission statement will help guide Dr. Mercola’s business into creating more accurate and reassuring information about the Covid-19 vaccine that will save lives. The mission statement aims to have society’s health best interest where Dr. Mercola’s mission was to provide and sell unproven treatments that would misled the public to generate profit. 

Mercola should hold honesty, reliability, fairness, and profitability as values in his business as well as in his actions. Mercola should be honest about the way he brands his products as they will still be profitable whether he is misbranding them or not. He should also be reliable as a doctor to give truthful and relevant information about the pandemic. Though he has strong opinions on the COVID-19 vaccine, due to his medical title he should be sharing information that is widely backed up by science rather than information that only benefits his personal company. He should be a reliable source of information. Mercola should value fairness as he goes about his business. He should be fair to the many stakeholders in this case by providing accurately branded products, and be a reliable source of information. He should be a fair businessman. Along with valuing honesty, reliability, and fairness, Mercola should value his profits. Although it can be argued that is what he is doing at the moment, he should focus on the profits of products that are properly advertised and branded that do not give off a false interpretation of outcomes. By focusing on the profits of his accurately branded products, Mercola can effectively evaluate the response of his products and implement products that will satisfy the market's needs. 

It is imperative to ensure that ethical productivity is maintained and an individual's ethics are frequently monitored. In order to certify that these matters never occur again, individuals on elevated social platforms must always be under ethical scrutiny. The individualist argues that, so long as an individual is acting in a manner consistent with the law towards the maximization of his profits, then his actions are ultimately legal. This concept is what allowed Dr. Mercola’s false claims to temporarily prevail, as through this viewpoint he was acting rationally. In order to combat this, one must look to policy; a red flag arises, when viewing this case under the knowledge that his actions were legal. If a more proactive legislative action was taken, this could have been prevented. The only way an individual would ultimately deem his actions wrong, is if the act is illegal. If laws are written concurrently with some of these ethical theories, then actions such as Mercola’s spread of misinformation may have been stopped. 

Another productive means of monitoring Dr. Mercola’s ethics to have prevented the situation, is through Kantianism. As stated prior, a Kantian would deem Mercola’s actions as morally impermissible right at the start, as he was acting inconsistently with the Law of Humanity. If individuals acted immediately after acknowledging the doctors unethical actions, the situation could have been eased. As these ethical foundations are so effective in preventing adversity, employers should incorporate these concepts into the training and schools should insert the content into the curriculum. For when the majority of individuals in a society are aware of ethical productivity and the monitoring of ethics, individuals will be able to deem actions on their moral permissibility, and subsequently act to prevent further harm. 

The plan outlined above established a way for Dr. Mercola to promote his business profits and productivity, while keeping the public safe. Having an overview of issues that have occurred during Mercola’s business, allowed us to create steps that will help his business run ethically. Establishing a mission statement for Mercola’s business will guide his business to maximize products and productivity. Not only does the mission statement promote business profits and productivity but it portrays the true intentions of a business. The mission statement will guide Mercola and his business to find strategies to fulfill consumer needs and have the consumer’s best interest in mind. For Mercola to run his business ethically with no issues, his business should promote values such as honesty, reliability, fairness, and profitability. These values will guide Mercola’s business to function more ethically, which will eliminate any issues from occurring in the future.

 

Authored By: Carlie Smith, Naomi Golasinski, Alexandria Morris, and Sean Alvord

 

References

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Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition. “Mercola.com, LLC - 607133 - 02/18/2021.” U.S. Food and Drug Administration. FDA, February 18, 2021. https://www.fda.gov/inspections-compliance-enforcement-and-criminal-investigations/warning-letters/mercolacom-llc-607133-02182021.

“Facebook - Latest News, Pictures & Video - Mirror Online.” mirror. Accessed December 12, 2021. https://www.mirror.co.uk/all-about/facebook. 

Frenkel, Sheera. “The Most Influential Spreader of Coronavirus Misinformation Online.” The New York Times. The New York Times, July 24, 2021. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/24/technology/joseph-mercola-coronavirus-misinformation-online.html?fbclid=IwAR1i7ukiXsWB9Ks1M0VTaXks6Jmftk5wx6RK7moCtfDBWAZWL51_GMKhnEU.

Knight, Victoria. “Doctors Spreading COVID-19 Misinformation Have Not Been Penalized.” Time. Time, September 20, 2021. https://time.com/6099700/covid-doctors-misinformation/.

“One of the Most Influential Voices in Vaccine Misinformation Is a Doctor.” NPR. NPR, August 8, 2021. https://www.npr.org/2021/08/08/1025845675/one-of-the-most-influential-voices-in-vaccine-misinformation-is-a-doctor.

Salazar, H. The Business Ethics Case Manual. n.d.

Satija, Neena, and Lena H. Sun. “A Major Funder of the Anti-Vaccine Movement Has Made Millions Selling Natural Health Products.” The Washington Post. WP Company, December 23, 2019. https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/2019/10/15/fdc01078-c29c-11e9-b5e4-54aa56d5b7ce_story.html.