The more-powerful and better-informed entity deliberately leveraging those imbalances to extract more value from the weaker entity is unethical. Might be normal, might be expected, might be "just business", but it's unethical.
It's also contrary to the ideals of a free market, if that matters to anyone.
I'll admit that it's ethical if one's ethical framework is based on Pirates of the Caribbean. "Take what you can, give nothing back." Which probably is pretty common, especially among people who succeed at business.
Respectfully, if someone can't comply with the laws they're subject to (or more accurately bother to look up the laws they need to comply with), they shouldn't be trying to run a business.
It's literally their job as a business owner, and millions of people successfully do this every year.
I can guarantee that every single business fails to comply with many laws. No one can know every law that might apply to them. A startup in California advertising a remote job that they hire a New Yorker for now has to comply with NYC laws. At best you can try to keep up with, understand, and comply with the most important and well-known laws. But you don't find out your toilets aren't ADA compliant or your storage shed breaks the fire and zoning rules until someone catches you. It's simply not practical to "look up the laws they need to comply with."
> It's simply not practical to "look up the laws they need to comply with."
If that's the case where you're incorporated and operating, specialists in what the law says and how it applies exists. Use some of that VC money to use them.
That said, your examples are pretty terrible. ADA rules for buildings are incredibly clear, and a halfway decent contractor will know them. Ditto fire rules. Seriously, a business owner with a shed that hurts or kills somebody for not being compliant with fire codes deserves their day in court.
Oh, and the usual "Ignorance of the law is no excuse to break the law" applies here too.
It's also contrary to the ideals of a free market, if that matters to anyone.
I'll admit that it's ethical if one's ethical framework is based on Pirates of the Caribbean. "Take what you can, give nothing back." Which probably is pretty common, especially among people who succeed at business.