White-collar Crime - Common Misconceptions of White-collar Crime

Common Misconceptions of White-collar Crime

One common misconception about corporate crime is that its effects are mainly financial. For example, pharmaceutical companies may make false claims regarding their drugs and factories may illegally dump toxic waste. Indeed, the Hooker Chemical Company (later acquired by Occidental Petroleum Corporation) dumped toxic waste into the abandoned Love Canal in Niagara Falls and sold the land without disclosing the dumping. It was sold in the 1950s to a private housing developer, whose residents began experiencing major health problems such as miscarriages and birth defects in the 1970s.

Additionally, employees of a company can become victims of white-collar crime. Regardless of whether they know about their company's criminal activities or not, employees risk losing their jobs if their employer is charged with a white-collar crime such as fraud or embezzlement, incurs losses, and declares bankruptcy. Another way employees can be victimized occurs when employers are aware of physical harm to their employees. For example, miners in Newfoundland had been exposed to Radon gas, and although the company (and the Canadian government) were aware of the health risks, it did not take any action.