They make the glass you drop into your pocket and the ceramic guts that cough and spit out a car’s fumes. They invented Gorilla Glass and built an empire on being indispensable – until that indispensability started looking like cosy club deals, busted markets and a sprinkling of classic corporate grubby behaviour. This is a run-down of the dirt you can prove with receipts – and yes, they also sell bits to Cummins.

Gorilla Glass and the EU antitrust dragnet

Corning’s Gorilla Glass is a feature in almost every phone ad you’ve ever scrolled past. That market share also made the company a target. The European Commission opened an antitrust probe into Corning’s supply agreements with phone makers and glass processors – accusing the firm of using exclusivity and tied purchasing to lock rivals out. Corning offered to drop those exclusive clauses and other restrictions to head off a fine, then negotiated concessions with EU regulators. That’s not a minor commercial tiff – it’s a dominant-supplier play that regulators treat like cartel risk.

The implication is blunt – make yourself irreplaceable, then write contracts that keep it that way. If the product is great, fine – but if the playbook is ‘exclude competitors with contractual voodoo’, that’s how markets get strangled.

The auto cartel – a criminal plea you can hang your hat on

This isn’t rumours in comments threads. Corning’s Japanese arm, Corning International K.K., pleaded guilty to participating in a conspiracy to fix prices, rig bids and allocate markets for ceramic substrates used in catalytic converters. The plea included a criminal fine north of $66m and admitted conduct stretching over years – conduct that directly harmed automobile manufacturers and, indirectly, consumers. It was part of the big US auto-parts cartel sweep – and it included allegations of document shredding and obstruction.

Say it out loud – the company that supplies emissions-control ceramics was in the business of squeezing competition by setting prices and slicing markets. That’s not abstract corporate cunning – it’s a felony-level play.

Whistleblowers and the False Claims payout

Corning quietly settled a whistle-blower suit tied to government purchasing rules – a $5.65m resolution over allegations it did not provide accurate best-pricing information to federal buyers. The suit came under the False Claims Act – the sort of claim that only surfaces when someone inside says “hang on, that’s not right”. Settlements like this aren’t innocence trophies – they’re signs of compliance failure that a whistle-blower had to drag into daylight. TCAP, of course, salutes this individual.

Sex-discrimination settlement – not ancient history

Not just corporate deals and price-fixing. In 2023 the EEOC announced Corning would pay $120,000 and provide injunctive relief over claims it systematically groomed men for promotion and repeatedly passed over women at some New York plants. It’s not the 1970s – this is modern HR failing in plain daylight.

A history of unequal pay – the Supreme Court episode

The company’s shady pay practices aren’t new. In Corning Glass Works v Brennan the US Supreme Court found that Corning’s wage system violated the Equal Pay Act – male night inspectors were paid more than female day inspectors doing equivalent work. The Court’s ruling stands in history – a legal stain that still speaks to institutional practices.

Patent wars, aggressive IP and consumer pain

Corning plays hard in patent-land – suing, defending and policing its glass and substrate tech around the globe. That includes battles with other glass makers, disputes at the EPO, and recent USITC moves and patent complaints tied to displays and substrates. On the flip side, consumers and vehicle owners keep complaining about Gorilla Glass windshields that crack and leave dealers and insurers squabbling about coverage – some class actions and warranty rows have followed. IP dominance plus product problems is a neat little two-step: own the tech, then weather the complaints when the tech doesn’t behave like the marketing.

Safety and environmental blemishes – the quieter files

Corning and related plants have racked up safety and environmental citations over the years – OSHA reports and environmental penalty records show a trail of workplace and reporting violations, and public databases catalogue multiple enforcement actions against Corning units and legacy operations. These aren’t splashy headlines – they’re the daily toll of industrial life that companies prefer to bury in compliance reports.

Cummins connection – yes, they supply Cummins

If you want to stitch this into a network, here it is: Corning’s Environmental Technologies division has been a named supplier to Cummins and has received Cummins supplier awards – so yes, Corning is part of the Cummins supply ecosystem. That makes this another datapoint in the “Cummins ecosystem contains companies with messy ethical track records” narrative you asked for – not an allegation about Cummins itself, but a factual supplier relationship to note.

So what’s the throughline?

A company that sits at the centre of crucial supply chains – phones, cars, lab kit – and uses that centrality to extract advantage.
A criminal plea from a foreign subsidiary in a global cartel, government settlements over pricing and employment practices, long-running patent fights, product complaints and workplace/environmental enforcement files.
And a real, documented supplier relationship to Cummins – so the stink (if you want to call it that) wafts into that wider corporate ecosystem.

This isn’t hearsay. It’s contracts, court filings, government press releases and regulatory records – the dry receipts that make a scandal into a story.

Lee Thompson – Founder, The Cummins Accountability Project

Supplier Series : Corning Inc. – The Shiney Face of Aroused Profit