How, then, do we resolve this problem?
In their capacity to deal with individuals, corporations should be considered pseudo-moral agents and should be held account- able in the same way that individuals are, even if the ability to do this within the legal system is limited. In other words, with regard to an ethical problem, responsibility for corporate wrongdoing shouldn’t be hidden behind a corporate mask. Just because it isn’t really a moral agent like a person doesn’t mean that a corporation can do what- ever it pleases. Instead, in its interactions with individuals or communities, a corpora- tion must respect the rights of individuals and should exhibit the same virtues that we expect of individuals.
Some insight into how the legal system views the moral status of corporations came in the Supreme Court decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission , handed down in 2010. This case was in response to a federal law that limited the ability of corporations to contribute money to the campaigns of political candi- dates. The Supreme Court held that corporations have a free-speech right to con- tribute to political campaigns just like individual citizens do, and that this right was being infringed upon by the federal law. Basically, the court said that corporations are like individuals and have some of the same rights.