When someone does something wrong, they need to be held accountable. I am not talking about small mistakes that end up in nothing. I am talking about mistakes that can alter people’s lives. If a driver hits and kills another driver on the road, the negligent driver usually ends up in a lawsuit with the other’s family. Although the family is only getting money and not their loved one back, this is an example of holding someone accountable. The same example can be applied to corporations and human rights. For instance, if someone passes away due to an incident that happened in the workplace, a lawsuit usually ensues. Even if it is only an incident that leaves the worker injured, there is usually a lawsuit. These lawsuits, and corporate accountability in general, have come a long way. For instance, look at what was happening around the time of the second world war. German corporations that were responsible for violations refused to make things right. They did not want to apologize for what they had done, and they did not want to pay the victims any sort of compensation. If that happened today, people would be up in arms and the corporation at fault would easily falter. The Flick corporation, for example, refused to pay compensation, even if their owner was worth over one billion dollars. And even if the victims were awarded compensation, it has not always been “fair” compensation. For example, the survivors of the Farben-Auschwitz plant received only 1,700 dollars. These “workers” faced inhumanely harsh working conditions, poor nourishment, and were assigned back breaking tasks. If injured or unable to not continue, they were “thrown away” and replaced with “fresh” workers, most of which came from concentration camps nearby. It is a wonder how anyone survived these conditions, but to be only getting 1,700 in compensation made things worse. Back in the 1940s, this was not a small number—accounting for inflation and other factors, 1,700 is nearly 25,000 in today’s currency—but that it’s still not nearly enough. That 1,700 was not at all “true and fair” compensation. Today, compensation claims are taken much more seriously. According to research, the average settlement, or compensation, paid to an individual for a back injury while at work is around 23,000 in the United States. Although this is lower when compared to the payout that the survivors received in the 1940s, it should be stated that those people went through much more challenging times, and they most certainly did not have insurance to help with medical bills. When the insurance is added to the compensation, the number reaches almost 50,000. It is evident that individuals, the government, and corporations have realized how big of an issue compensation is. Laws have been passed to keep corporations honest, people understand what they can do if something happens to them, and most governments are there to help. Fair compensation has come a long way and it will not stop any time soon.
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