IBM

Last edited by apocalypticbeef on July 11, 2008 - 12:00pm

Company Snapshot:

International Business Machines (IBM) manufactures computer software and hardware products. IBM is headquartered in Armonk, NY and has 355,766 employees worldwide. The company reported revenues of $91.4 billion in 2006.

Ownership status:

Publicly traded

Number of employees worldwide:

355,766

Chief executive officer:

Samuel J. Palmisano

2008 Global Fortune 500 rank:

Website:

http://www.ibm.com/us

Corporate accountability

Accountability overview:

In 2006, CEO S J. Palmisano made $24,463,788 in total compensation including stock option grants from IBM. By this figure, Palmisiano is earning $94,091 every workday. AFL-CIO, 04/05/2006

Labor:

IBM agreed to pay $65 million in a class action overtime lawsuit filed in 2006. The settlement may go to as many as 32,000 current and former employees previously classified as exempt from overtime pay. IBM stated that it settled the lawsuit to avoid an expensive legal battle and claims no wrongdoing in the case. Wall Street Journal, 11/22/2006

In September 2004 IBM agreed to settle all but two claims in a lawsuit accusing the company of having a pension plan that discriminated against older workers, in exchange for a limit of $1.4 billion on its potential liability. Under the terms of the settlement, current and former IBM employees in the suit would be eligible to receive an incremental pension benefit worth an estimated $300 million. Ethical Corporation, 09/30/2004

Environment and product safety:

In 2002 residents in Endicott NY discovered that a 1979 chemical spill from a former IBM plant had been polluting at least 470 homes or businesses with toxic and carcinogenic chemicals. The chemicals in the ground include trichloroethylene, tetrachloroethylene, trichloroethane and methylene chloride. By 2004, IBM discovered measurable levels of toxicity, proving that the 1979 cleanup was inadequate. Since that time, the company has spent $40 million in clean up costs to remediate soil and groundwater. A study of cancer rates in the area revealed an elevated level of testicular cancer, kidney cancer, and heart birth defects. Sierra Club, 09/14/2006

IBM is the target of a series of lawsuit brought about by former workers who claim that they were exposed to cancer-causing chemicals. Forty-five plaintiffs from the company's San Jose facility brought suit against the company, citing personal injury and wrongful death. The plaintiffs are surviving family members of workers who have died of cancer or former workers suffering from cancer.The company is accused of not taking the necessary precautions for employees who worked in these rooms, and of failing to conduct the tests. As of February 2004, the number of lawsuits hovered around 200. Many cases have been settled confidentially out of court, including over 50 in June 2004, but others' outcome remain pending. [Atlanta Journal, 06/24/2004]

In May 2001 IBM settled with two plaintiffs who had claimed that exposure to toxic fumes at the company's Fishkill, NY facility caused birth defects in their son. The details of the settlement , which asked for $40 million in damages, remained confidential. The settlement was part of a larger on-going dispute between the company and 220 of its employees in San Jose, New York and Vermont over exposure to toxics in various IBM facilities (see related Health & Safety items). Poughkeepsie Journal, 01/23/2003

As of March 2007, IBM is listed as sharing responsibility for 26 Superfund sites. IBM shares "multi-party responsibility," meaning additional companies are responsible for both the pollution and the clean-up of a site. Center for Public Integrity, 03/01/2007

IBM was one of the companies included in Greenpeace International’s “E-waste Hall of Shame.” Greenpeace International discovered IBM products in their visit to a Chinese scrap yard. IBM, along with Apple, Panasonic, Toshiba, and Acer, has not committed to remove chemicals from products or be responsible for the safe recycling and responsible disposal of their products. Greenpeace, 06/20/2006

Human rights:

In November 2002 a lawsuit was filed against IBM and 19 other companies for reparations because of alleged support to the apartheid regime that ruled South Africa until 1994. The case, which was filed by the Khulumani Support Group, seeks compensatory and punitive damages for more than 32,000 South Africans hurt by apartheid. The suit charges IBM with supplying technology for white South African authorities to create "passbooks" for the black population that were used to control their movement, employment, and residence.Common Dreams Newswire, 11/14/2002