(Another) Report Predicts That Employees’ Breach of Duty and Theft To Rise in Down Economy July 1, 2009

I came across earlier this evening entitled “Report: Business Risk of Fraud, Corruption Up Amid Economic Crisis,” which, true to its title, squarely blames the global economic recession for an uptick in employee theft, corruption and dishonesty in the business environment. A careful reading of the article reveals that the holes in the argument advanced by the author are large enough to drive an 18-wheeler through it, however.

First, and as a threshold matter, the article does not even attempt to prove – scientifically or otherwise – a link between the economy and a breach of fiduciary duty.

Ironically, the prime example cited by this article - a crackdown on wealthy companies who engaged in unfair competition by paying out hundreds of millions of dollars in fines for illicitly attempting to secure lucrative oil contracts through bribes – does not support its theory that theft and dishonesty are being perpetrated by the desperate.

In short, as noted in my earlier blog post “Study Claims That Employee Theft Rises as Economy Worsens,”  it seems that people are looking for a convenient scapegoat for unethical behavior when they should be looking in the mirror.

Jonathan Cooper is a New York Business Litigation and New York Commercial Litigation Lawyer with a focus on New York breach of contract and New York business fraud claims before the Nassau, Queens, Brooklyn, Bronx, Westchester and Suffolk County courts of New York State. For more information, feel free to contact his Long Island office at 516-791-5700.

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