Riordan Corporate Compliance Plan
Susan Holmes, Marcia Kelly, Peter Flores,
Ronald Cox, Celeste Mellett, and Orlinda Watson,
LAW/531
April 9, 2012
Instructor Name: Thane Messinger

Understanding the position companies must take to protect the interests of investors and employees, the organization must have compliance plan in place. The compliance plan must address every possible liability that can bring financial and physical harm to the company. The organization must work with each department to understand the risks involved with each job. Knowing the risks and working to help the employees understand what those risks are and will help keep the employee minimizing risks of the organization. The compliance plan helps list the goals Riordan Manufacturing established to ensure the employees know the correct steps to comply with the laws and regulations.
Legal Risk Exposure and Responses Traditionally, Riordan Manufacturing Company legal counsel interacts primarily with executive management and the board of directors to report on existing, pending, and probable litigation. Although this responsibility continues to be critical, it is imperative that there be an increased presence of legal counsel to the internal organization. It is important for counsel to act as an internal company consultant to help reduce legal risks. Activities include circulating existing legal risks status data, consulting internal management, acting as a sounding board for staff to determine risks associated with actions, and background reporting of legal issues (Moeller, 2011). Additionally, this new role must include an implementation process to identify legal risks to the company, and steps to take in response. These steps are as follows: – Development of risk assessment questions for the different levels of management, – Perform risk assessments for potential events with probability of risks and exposure, – Prepare response requirements, – Monitor actions with compiled results, and – Create an escalation policy for communication to legal counsel (Olayimikah Soetan, 2011). Each department identifies an individual who will escalate legal exposures to legal counsel. Legal counsel and department management meet monthly for status updates to report on activities of the departments’ that present legal exposure, present monitoring results, and review auditing results. Counsel prepares a monthly report for the executive committee summarizing the current status of actions taken to minimize the risks to Riordan Manufacturing. Riordan Manufacturing Company Employee Legal Rights Employees have rights within the workplace, protected by federal and state laws and are enforceable. These rights include privacy, fair compensation, and freedom harassment, and discrimination ("Employees Rights 101," 2012). Other protected rights are safety within the working environment and to avoid retaliatory action by others. Additionally, the Americans with Disabilities Act protects against discrimination because of a disability. Riordan Manufacturing provides new employees the employee handbook (Apollo Group, 2012). The company’s handbook provides information about the laws protecting them, and contact information if there are questions, or if they wish to make a complaint. Regardless of the employee’s job function, the employee’s rights have protection. Riordan considers the employees to be the most important asset of the company. When employees are concerned about actions or behaviors, they deem to be in conflict with employee laws. He or she must bring the complaint to the human resources person for the division. Further action will follow to ensure the employee has confidentiality and resolution when possible. Riordan will not tolerate its management making false representations, possessing prior knowledge of the misrepresentation, and intentional deception to employees. Employees have the legal right to file a claim against Riordan if deceived by management of the company, and they rely on the misrepresentation to act.
Enterprise Liability A tort doctrine created to hold all individuals or entities engaging in a certain unsafe custom liable for any injuries that result from use of that custom is known as enterprise liability (Johansen, 2011). The theory of enterprise liability relies on liability without fault. Enterprise liability, also known as industry-wide liability, presents the opportunity for a plaintiff to sue any member of an unsafe company and hold company accountable for the injuries sustained from the use of the industry. If the plaintiff is not able to prove fault on any of the members of the company, the defendants could be found liable if the safety standards he or she operated under are deemed inadequate entire industry by the plaintiff. Once the plaintiff adduces enterprise liability, the defendants must show that he or she operated safely as individuals (Johansen, 2011). Riordan Manufacturing is in the business of manufacturing plastics for products such as automobile parts, aircraft parts, the Department of Defense programs, beverages, and appliances (Apollo Group, 2012). The employees working in the manufacturing plants and the product designer, follow safety regulations. The products are designed, manufactured, and tested prior to release to the consumers. This ensures the employees’ safety; the product’s quality required by company management, and is safe, for the consumers. Additionally, the company’s legal counsel is aware of potential and realized risks of design and manufacturing, advising and informing Riordan officers and directors. The China plant uses machinery exposing Riordan to injury claims. China passed legislation in July 2011 covering foreign workers under China’s social health policy. “China’s social insurance under the social insurance law includes basic endowment insurance, basic medical care insurance, workers’ compensation, unemployment insurance, and maternity insurance” (Social Insurance Law, Article 2, 2011).
Real Estate Riordan Manufacturing has an insurance policy against risk of theft, vandalism, and natural disasters for buildings and other operating locations.. If the need arises, Riordan files a claim with the insurance company for damages. The insurance company then assesses damages and provides compensation.
Intellectual Property Riordan’s intellectual property includes patents, trademarks, and copyrighted materials. “Intellectual property rights include patents, copyrights, trademarks, and trade secrets” (Cheeseman, 2010, p. 109). Riordan Manufacturing holds patents to processing polymers into high tensile strength plastic and is also protected against the misusing the product name. All patents Riordan holds are filed with the United States Patent Office (PTO). Riordan’s legal staff handles prosecution if needed for patent, trademark, or copyright infringements. All employees receive instructions to secure all company documents and trade secrets as stated in the employee handbook. Strict policy adherence and training on the policy prevents any intellectual property from leaving Riordan’s work locations without direction from executive management. Additionally, these procedures reduce the risk of products in development being illegally obtained.
Governance Principles of Regulatory Compliance Requirements
Environmental Protection Riordan Manufacturing operates in countries outside the United States, so there are multiple environmental protection laws to obey. The United States environmental laws are the strictest for waste and pollution, so the United States is a model for Riordan’sworldwide operations. America’s Environmental Protection Agency regulates the acceptable levels of water and air pollution levels permitted in the United States. Riordan is a member of Six Sigma and ISO 9000 (Apollo Group, 2012). Those standards required for membership are stricter than the EPA standards. Recently, the plastic parts manufacturing plant in China exceeded the acceptable levels of pollution. Riordan Manufacturing immediately created a task force to assess the problem. The company developed better procedures for disposing the manufacturing waste. Riordan’s legal staff regularly meets with the Chinese government to ensure Riordan is in compliance with China’s EPA regulations.
Legal Council Riordan Manufacturing uses executive and middle management to create policies intended not only to protect Riordan’s assets but also to protect the stakeholders in the company. The stakeholders include employees, stockholders, customers, and the community. Many issues of safety and protection of real property is the responsibility of middle and first levels of management. Minimal legal advice is not needed. The human resources department assists with any legal issues regarding employee rights. Legal counsel for Riordan handles larger issues regarding company litigation and consults the internal organization on present and potential legal risks. This enables Riordan board of directors and executive management to focus their capital on research and development.
International Issues With the company expanding to joint venture manufacturing s in China ,"engineering personnel may travel between the US and China for specific projects, but there are no expatriate engineers from the US in China, and no Chinese employees currently work in the US operations" (University of Phoenix, 2012). Engineering needs a rotational program with a limit of three years, as a requirement when assigned to the Chinese operation to acclimatize to the new, challenging environment in China. The specific allowances are set in the human Resources under Global Operations. It' is advisable that the China operations move to the city of Shanghai and the planned move should be kept confidential. Also, a strategic plan is required for this business operation detailing the risks and opportunities of this relocation. A memorandum titled “China Relocation” needs a more detailed study prior to a decision. The international law firm of Litteral and Finkel will continue to provide assistance with legal services covering all areas of the law, such as tax law, real estate transactions, employment law, immigration matters, civil litigation, workers compensation, labor law, and customs regulations. Currently, the firm has many offices worldwide and will provide legal services to Riordan operations worldwide.
Conclusion
Riordan Manufacturing is an international company that brings many jobs to the local communities. Protecting the employee and company from future legal liability actions is the goal of the compliance plan. Riordan Manufacturing. Implementation of the plan will cover the enterprise liability, real and intellectual property rights, the government requirements and regulations that applying to the compliance requirements, with the goal of worldwide growth, The compliance plan establishes the policies and regulations for the employees to follow the laws and regulations that Riordan Manufacturing Company is required to meet.

References
Apollo Group. (2012). Riordan Manufacturing. Retrieved April 7, 2012 from https://ecampus.phoenix.edu/secure/aapd/cist/vop/Business/Riordan/index.asp
Cheeseman, H.R. (2010). Business Law: Legal environment, online commerce, business ethics, and international issues. (7th. ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall
Employees Rights 101. (2012). Retrieved from http://employment.findlaw.com/employment/employees-rights-101.html
Employer Fraud, Defamation, or Whistle Blowing Violations. (2012). Retrieved from http://www.lawfirms.com/resources/employment/your-legal...a-job-2.htm
Johansen, E. (2011). What Is Enterprise Liability? Retrieved from http://www.ehow.com/about_6506091_enterprise-liability_.html on April 7, 2012
Library of Congress, (2011). China: Social Insurance to Cover Foreigners Employed in China. Retrieved April 6, 2012 from http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402729_text
Moeller, R. (2011). COSO Enterprise Risk Mangement: Understanding the New Integrated ERMFramework (5th ed.). Hoboken, New Jersey: JohnWiley & Sons, Inc.
Olayimikah Soetan. (2011). Enterprise Risk Management Framework. Retrieved from Olayimikah Soetan, website.
University of Phoenix. (2012). Riordan Manufacturing Policies and Procedures. Retrieved from https://ecampus.phoenix.edu/secure/aapd/cist/vop/Business/Riordan/HR/Policies.asp#go