Fernando's Business Ethics and Corporate Governance, 3rd Edition

114

Part 1

 Business Ethics

Hll’s Folly: Mercury Spill in Kodaikanal

(This case study is based on reports in the print and

electronic media, and is meant for academic purpose

only. The author has no intention to sully the image

either of the corporate or the executives discussed.)

INTRODUCTION

In March 2001, more than 400 residents of Kodaikanal,

an idyllic hill station on the Western Ghats in the south

of India, caught the multinational Hindustan Lever

Ltd. (HLL) red-handed when they found a dumpsite

with toxic mercury-laced waste from the company’s

thermometer factory located in the heart of the town.

‘The 7.4 ton stockpile of crushed