Toyota and Dimitrios Biller
Tuesday, September 27th, 2011Toyota, the world-renowned Japanese vehicle franchise took part in a major dispute with one of its former employees earlier in 2010. Former National Managing Counsel of Toyota’s National Rollover Program, Dimitrios Biller, filed a lawsuit against Toyota claiming he was forced to resign. He stated that Toyota was destroying evidence and withholding information from its consumers, using 6000 previously kept documents as proof. These controversial statements resulted in Biller paying Toyota $2.5 million in damages for 10 disclosure violations, plus $100,000 in punitive damages.
Upon further review of the article, it became apparent that both parties were guilty of violating business ethics. Toyota was guilty of hiding information that in turn, hurt the company image; at the same time, Dimitrios Biller presented confidential information and also publically criticized the Japanese car company. Based on the ruling during the arbitration, Toyota came out victorious, but at what cost? Its ethics are more questioned than before and more flaws are being discovered as Toyota is currently suffering from a major rollback. And Biller, although an exceptional attorney, is viewed as someone that can harm a company, consequently diminishing job opportunities. This proves that if two parties violate business ethics, no one comes out victorious.