Sometimes what is perceived to be the ethical thing to do has to be overlooked in order to complete an assigned task at work. While this can occur in any workplace, the fine line between doing the job as told and doing the job ethically is thinner regarding attorneys and employees in the business world. For example, Michael Clayton is a film that follows a man of the same name who is a fixer for a prestigious law firm, Kenner, Bach and Leeden, that is stuck in a difficult situation of having to defend the unethical actions of an agriculture product conglomerate, U-North. The firm is given the task of defending U-North from a lawsuit that states that the company willingly signed off on a carcinogenic and dangerous weed killer. Throughout the
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That role goes to Arthur because unlike Michael, Arthur quickly realized that he needed to make a change. While others blamed it on the medication, Arthur knew that he was doing the right thing whether he was taking his medicine or not. That is what separated Arthur from all the other characters in the film. He was willing to risk his job, money, reputation, and his life for no personal gain, just for justice to be served. As for Karen, she is the most unethical character in the film due to her many decisions that were based on personal gain. Arthur worried about the overall good, but Karen only worried about protecting herself and in order to do that she had to protect U-North. U-North is her employer as the general counsel of the company, her reputation would be tarnished if the plaintiffs were able to win the suit. Even though others such as Marty and Michael were more worried about their own self-interest at some point, it was Karen who continually piled up unethical action after unethical action in order to protect her own image. She was the also the one was behind some of the most corrupt actions in the film such as the death of Arthur and the attempted murder of Michael. When looking at Arthur and Karen side by side, they are complete opposite characters. Although he looked as if he was out of his mind
That role goes to Arthur because unlike Michael, Arthur quickly realized that he needed to make a change. While others blamed it on the medication, Arthur knew that he was doing the right thing whether he was taking his medicine or not. That is what separated Arthur from all the other characters in the film. He was willing to risk his job, money, reputation, and his life for no personal gain, just for justice to be served. As for Karen, she is the most unethical character in the film due to her many decisions that were based on personal gain. Arthur worried about the overall good, but Karen only worried about protecting herself and in order to do that she had to protect U-North. U-North is her employer as the general counsel of the company, her reputation would be tarnished if the plaintiffs were able to win the suit. Even though others such as Marty and Michael were more worried about their own self-interest at some point, it was Karen who continually piled up unethical action after unethical action in order to protect her own image. She was the also the one was behind some of the most corrupt actions in the film such as the death of Arthur and the attempted murder of Michael. When looking at Arthur and Karen side by side, they are complete opposite characters. Although he looked as if he was out of his mind