Did Feuerstein Do the Right Thing?

In the town of Lawrence, Massachusetts was a company called Malden Mills. A company known for their services to the community and its people for three generations. The company which manufactured Polartec fabrics for some high end companies. The company had a lot of concern for the community and the work they supplied to the people. The grandson of the founder was Aaron Feuerstein and CEO of Malden Mills. He had a business sense that taking care of the workers the community and stakeholders would be the best way to run a business. He knew that being committed to the workers and the community is what running a business all was about. In 1995 the three buildings of the nine were destroyed in a fire at which Feuerstein promised to pay all his employees’ wages and extend their medical coverage. By doing so it cost him $15 million which he then ran out of money and had to go into bankruptcy. The company and the workers eventually lost everything.

Like many companies in similar situations would have moved to another location that would have been cheaper Feuerstein chose to stay because the company and its workers were his main priority. Aaron felt like he owed them that much since all their hard work they had done for him and to the mill. He chose to put everything aside from the fire to the financial concerns to keep the community afloat in this hard time. It was his social responsibility but all could have been saved if he had done more to keep this fire from coming about. Since the company was a textile mill it had hazardous chemicals and heavy heated machinery. In a way he put all the employees and the community in harm by not making sure everything was up to date that could lead to massive explosion. There were 33 injuries but no fatalities. By making these promises and making them happen he was then looked at as a hero to his employees.

In 2001 Malden Mills was forced to file bankruptcy chapter 11 for protection. It was necessary because of...