Willful blindness refers to an often unsuccessful attempt to avoid liability for an action by claiming ignorance.
Synonym: turning a blind eye
Criteria:
(1) something illegal, unpleasant or difficult is occurring
(2) a person who should be aware of the situation intentionally avoids knowledge of its occurrence
(3) the person then claims that s/he is not responsible since s/he was unaware of it
The person avoids knowledge by not performing due diligence:
(1) not asking reasonable questions
(2) not investigating
(3) not listening to a possible source
(4) avoiding situations
