Normative Ethics: Utilitarianism and Deontology CASE 1(Ebbers Behind Bars) - Essay Example

Let’s firstly understand what Ebbers really did in the company and the fraud that was planned by the company was (Glater, 2005). Following this it would be easier to rightly point out whether or not it was justified and if it was a well thought out and moral decision taken by Ebbers. A number of different aspects were revealed during this case. After a discussion about the financial data, reports, etc, the prosecution went into the human angle of the CEO of WorldCom. Ebbers body structure and his personality was put to judgement.

Sullivan the CFO of the company and Myers the telecom firm’s one time controller, were pleaded to be guilty and the prosecutors had tried a lot to try and focus that Ebbers was the prime mover behind the entire fraud. However the defence attorney Weingarten constantly argued that Ebbers was unaware of the fraud and that the books were all built up by Sullivan and Myers, without the knowledge of Ebbers. He also mentioned that Sullivan was the ‘brilliant’ one and Myers was the ‘henchman’ in this entire case that very carefully planned out the entire fraud (Rogers & Jones, 2005).

Sullivan was accused to be a liar and was also considered to be the most likely to be hired CFO because of his talents and knowledge about accounting. However according to the defence attorney, the excess power, enormous credibility and the great prestige was one of the main reasons he lied. Ebbers to a great extent agreed with the defence lawyer and said he was completely unaware of the situation and that the books were being cooked up. The jury however did take account of the fact that money, power and pressure are three factors that can easily corrupt an individual and hence they took into account Ebbers personality.

The jury however was urged to keep in mind the loss that this fraud had caused the shareholders. Also since Ebbers was not ready to take