WSJ: “I was an Oil Spill Scapegoat”

The Wall Street Journal story above raises a great question. How effective is a federal prosecution in improving corporate and employee behavior?

Of course, the article was written by Kurt Mix, the accused, but it seems to raise very valid points that government investigations can go out of control, and that individuals have a very hard time fighting back against “the system.”

Why is the advice of any good attorney to “say nothing” to a criminal investigator before you have an attorney advising you? Because you may not know what serious laws you are breaking by what you see as non-criminal behavior.

Can this “don’t talk” advice make it harder for investigators to find the root causes of an accident? You bet!

So the next time you think that a criminal investigation is the answer to improve safety performance, maybe you should think again.