Erin Brockovich's Case: Her Actions as Deserving of Financial Compensation

In my option, Erin's investigative techniques and business practices weren't ethical. Firstly, she didn't wear professional clothes to her work. She was told to dress professionally a couple of time by her co-worker and boss, but she strictly denied to their face. It is very important for business employees to dress professionally because it shows a visual image and sends a message to the client that the employee is professional. Also, you never know when you will have to meet with someone important. The image of the employee represents the vision of the company. It could affect the relationship of a new business deal between clients. Secondly, she used extortion on her boss many times to her own intentions. Erin threatened and forced Ed Masry to give her a job after he lost her case in court. Later, she is fired from her job due to disappearing for 1 week, she uses the evidence on PG&E which was illegally copied from the Lahontan regional water board to get her back on the case and receive a raise with health benefits. She knew the value of the of evidence and took advantage by getting a raise. It shows to use of extortion on her boss. I believe that just handing the evidence to her boss would have been ethical instead of blackmailing him. Lastly, she used foul language with everyone including her boss and co-worker. She goes into the office and disrespected some of the employees. She called the secretary a 'bitch' after stopping her from entering Ed Masry's office. Furthermore, Erin was being disrespectful to the assistant attorney of the company that merged with them. These are 3 examples that show that Erin Brockovich intention was noble, but she wasn't following the professional business practices.

PG&E settled the case for $333 million and the law firm, Masry & Vititoe, received forty percent, which was approximately $133 million. In my opinion, the firm had the right to ask for forty perfect of the cut because they spent countless hours on the case and Ed Masry would pay any additional cost. Also, this case was classified as Pro Bono. These type of cases only compensate the firm if they win the case. If the law firm lost the case against PG&E, they would have made nothing. All the time and effort would have been wasted. This would motivate all the lawyer to work harder and accommodate justice for their client. The firm gave the victim hope to uncover and reveal the unethical practices taking place at PG&E to the world. The families that were affected by the water contamination had no idea until Ed Masry and Erin Brockovich told them. If they never found out, then there wouldn't be any lawsuit against PG&E. This firm helped over 700 people who were infected with illness and gave them a something to fight for. Due to the effort of the lawyers, over 700 victims were able to receive proper healthcare to cure their illness. The victims should be very happy that lawyers were fighting for them. Lastly, I would like to point out that PG&E should've been punished heavily because they lack the basic meaning of ethics. They covered everything up and were going to leave over 700 victims helpless.

I believe Erin Brockovich deserved the $2 million for her work because she found out about the water contamination. Although Erin didn't have a law degree or experience in law, she found the connection between families getting sick and hexavalent chromium in the water. Also, she was able to reveal many details about the case through her conversations with the families who were affected by the contaminated water. In my opinion, Erin Brockovich was very brave because she was threatened by PG&E to leave the case, but she stood her ground and helped over 700 victims with money for health care expenses.

She was working very hard to get to the bottom of the case and had to stay up all night and she lost the time to spend time with kids because she thought getting justice for the families was more important. Also, the case was affecting her relationship with his boyfriend, George. She came home late and wasn’t able to spend time at home. It was something that bothered her, but all she wanted is to help the victims and punish PH&E. Erin had to face many obstacles in her journey against PG&E lawsuit and she should be accommodate for her work. In the end, she gave the victims a chance to get healthy and move on with their life. According to my belief, hard work should always be rewarded and what Erin Brockovich did for these victims was completely reputable and should always be remembered by everyone.