The executive had the authority to start or stop what engineers do. The moment of decision vests with the exec. The engineer did wrong things, and I suspect would own that they broke the 'engineers code' which is pretty much the apocryphal 'try to do no harm' thing doctors don't actually sign to. The exec on the other hand, had the 'earn shareholder money' mantra stamped into their DNA like a stick of rock candy. The morality play around what executive grades think, and do regarding societal expectations is pretty well understood: thats why its the mainstream of ongoing current fiction. If you want to look to fiction for instances of people saying scientists or engineers have to make moral decisions, you're going to C.P. Snow "the search" (1959) or Neville Shute "No Highway" (1948) while I can look down any bookshelf and find 'wolf of wall street' staring me in the eyes..

I was thinking it was interesting the engineer received jail time. I've not researched at all, but I could see someone performing a job and having management tell them that it's all good with some over-their-head legal explanation, even though it does not seem like it to the engineer.

It's neat to see jail time trickle down though, seems like a better deterrent than a financial cost. It seems to me that it would be easier to believe the financial cost would not hit you, that you could get out of it or not have the cash. Where a jail time potential would make me think twice about anything potentially shady.

Who orders should take more responsibility.

That part seems appropriate. Executives should be more accountable than employees.