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2009/16: Compensation for asbestos victims: were the penalties imposed on James Hardie directors adequate?
Introduction to the media issue
Video clip at right: An ABC interview with Matt Peacock, author of a book on James Hardie, Killer Company.
If you cannot see this clip, it will be because YouTube is blocked by your network. To view the clip, access from home or from a public library, or from another network which allows YouTube clips.
What they said...
The penalties and bans handed down to former James Hardie executives and directors today are not enough considering the extent of their immoral and illegal behavior and the harm the company's deadly asbestos products have caused'
The Australian Council of Trade Unions
'The decision is another important step in improving corporate governance in Australia and that improvement will add confidence to the integrity of our markets'
Tony D'Aloisio, the chairperson of the Australian Securities Investments Commission (ASIC)
The issue at a glance
On August 20, 2009, NSW Supreme Court judge Ian Gzell A judge handed out fines of up to $350,000 to ten former executives and directors of the building products maker James Hardie.
Judge Ian Gzell also disqualified former chief executive Peter Macdonald from managing a company for 15 years, former James Hardie lawyer Peter Shafron for seven years and former directors Meredith Hellicar, Michael Brown, Michael Gillfillan, Martin Koffel, Dan O'Brien, Greg Terry and Peter Willcox for five years each.
The penalties were not uniformly well-accepted. While they were not as high as the corporate regulator (ASIC) had wanted, some spokespeople for the corporate sector feared that they would discourage necessary risk-taking and required an unreasonable degree of responsibility upon a set of non-executive directs.
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