Managers and the Legal Environment 7th Edition by David Madsen, Constance Bagley

Exercise 12

Geronimo Villegas, co-owner and vice president of Plaza Health Laboratories, Inc., a blood-testing laboratory in New York, was convicted of knowingly discharging pollutants into the Hudson River in violation of the Clean Water Act. On at least two occasions, Villegas loaded containers of numerous vials of human blood (some infected with the hepatitis-B virus) generated from his business into his personal car and drove to his residence in New Jersey. Once at his condominium complex, Villegas removed the containers from his car and carried them to the edge of the Hudson River. On one occasion, he carried two containers of the vials to the bulkhead that separated his condominium complex from the river; at low tide, he placed the containers in a crevice in the bulkhead that was below the high-water line. One day, a group of eighth graders on a field trip discovered numerous glass vials containing human blood along the shore. All of the vials were traced back to Plaza Health Laboratories. Villegas appealed his conviction, arguing that his crime cannot be prosecuted under the Clean Water Act because his conduct failed to meet the elements necessary to bring a claim under the Act. What result? [United States v. Plaza Health Laboratories, Inc., 3 F.3d 643 (2d Cir. 1993).]