Commission initiated an investigation into Sunbeam for Dunlap's entire tenure.
10. October 1998. Sunbeam issued a report of restated earnings, announcing that it had overstated losses for the fourth quarter of 1996 and earnings for 1997, and had understated its first-quarter loss for 1998, confirming suspicion that its "much-touted 1997 turnaround [had] never happened" (Vidueira, 1998, p. 10A). The company had been near bankruptcy all along.
The entire project of corporate downsizing raises an ethical issue in the Sunbeam matter because decisions made in boardrooms directly impact individual experience. Dunlap's nickname--"Chainsaw Al"--is enough to suggest harm--both potential and actual--that can be identified with worker insecurity about future livelihood in consequence of downsizing. But far from deterring Sunbeam's board from hiring him, that reputation encouraged his hiring. That decision was antithetical to counsel in Proverbs, which identifies five of the seven things the Lord hates as "haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed inn
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