In the News–Reputation Management
#MeToo Snares More Than 400 High-Profile People
Jeff Green, Bloomberg, June 25, 2018
At least 414 high-profile executives and employees across fields and industries have been outed by the #MeToo Movement in 18 months, according to data collected by a New York-based crisis consulting firm.
The study looked at national news articles that singled out people for sexual harassment or other similar misdeeds, said Davia Temin, whose firm Temin & Co. did the research. Individuals with at least seven separate, national mentions were included. That includes celebrities like Bill Cosby and Louis CK, but the vast majority are corporate executives and business leaders like Intel CEO Brian Krzanich, who resigned late last week after revelations of an affair with an employee. […read more]
Melania Trump Jacket, Brian Krzanich Intel, Instagram Grandmas: Broadsheet June 22
Kristen Bellstrom, Fortune The Broadsheet, June 22, 2018
Yesterday, we learned that Intel CEO Brian Krzanich had resigned for having what is being carefully described as a past “consensual relationship” with an Intel employee, a violation of company policy. While Krzanich is far from the first chief to lose his job over an office romance, his departure is instructive about the ways in which corporate America is attempting to digest the #MeToo movement.
While some companies might have once been willing to overlook such transgressions—even when the rules were clear—those days are over, Davia Temin, chief executive of reputation management firm Temin & Co., told the WSJ. “There’s a new level of rigor that says if something is on the books, it needs to be upheld and not ignored,” she said, noting that boards have become increasingly vigilant about companies’ reputations when it comes to issues of sexual misconduct. […read more]
Companies Caught Up in Trump’s ‘Zero Tolerance’ Immigration Policy See Big Risks
Samuel Rubenfeld, The Wall Street Journal, June 22, 2018
There is tremendous reputational risk for companies linked in any way to the Trump administration’s “zero tolerance” immigration policy that separated infants and children from their parents as they crossed the southern U.S. border, according to crisis-communications experts.
It is hard for a company to defend itself if it is an identified participant in a global firestorm, said Davia Temin, president and chief executive of Temin & Co., a crisis-management firm. Actions matter rather than words in an issue fraught with such emotion, she said. “Anyone associated with this government action is at risk of reputational damage, serious reputational damage.” […read more]
Intel CEO Krzanich Resigns Over Relationship With Employee
Jay Greene and Vanessa Fuhrmans, The Wall Street Journal, June 21, 2018
Intel Corp. said Chief Executive Brian Krzanich resigned for violating company policy by having a relationship with a co-worker, one of the most prominent CEOs to lose a job in an era of greater scrutiny over workplace behavior.
The rise of the #MeToo movement has companies hewing closely to policies on both sexual harassment and consensual relationships, especially for business leaders, said Davia Temin. “There’s a new level of rigor that says if something is on the books, it needs to be upheld and not ignored.” […read more]
Scrutiny of CEOs’ Personal Lives Rises in #MeToo Era
Vanessa Fuhrmans and Rachel Feintzeig, The Wall Street Journal, June 21, 2018
Chief executives used to be able to operate with little scrutiny beyond their quarterly results. That’s no longer the case.
Decades ago, board members were more likely to look the other way on office romances and other matters considered personal, according to executive recruiters and corporate governance experts, but the role of CEO is more high profile than ever before, limiting the room for transgressions.
“There’s a new level of rigor that says if something is on the books, it needs to be upheld and not ignored,” said Davia Temin, adding that boards of directors are increasingly concerned about anything that might affect a company’s reputation.
Corporate missteps can go viral fast, thanks to cellphone cameras, social media and apps and websites like Glassdoor and Blind—popular with tech workers—where employees can anonymously share feedback. “It’s much less easy to have secrets,” said Davia Temin. “Organizations are more porous.” […read more]
You Can Eradicate Sexual Harassment in Your Organization
Dean Rotbart, Monday Morning Radio, June 10, 2018
To kick of his 7th year of hosting Monday Morning Radio, award-winning journalist Dean Rotbart invited back one of his most popular all-time guests, Davia Temin, founder & CEO of crisis management firm Temin and Company, to talk about a very hot button issue in America at the moment: sexual harassment.
To listen to the interview, CLICK HERE.
Tax-Law Typo Risks Bankrupting #MeToo Victims Without GOP Fix
Jeff Green and Sahil Kapur, Bloomberg, June 5, 2018
Republicans are considering a fix to a provision in their new tax law that they acknowledge could inadvertently penalize victims of sexual harassment in the workplace. But congressional gridlock before midterm elections in November means there’s no guarantee that the problem will be corrected quickly, if at all.
President Donald Trump’s tax overhaul eliminates the deduction companies used to be able to take when they settled sexual harassment cases and included non-disclosure agreements, which generally keep details secret as a condition of the payout.
So far, about 300 executives and other high profile leaders, mostly men, have been accused of sexual harassment or other improper behavior related to the so-called #MeToo movement, according to New York crisis counseling company Temin & Co., based on an ongoing count of actions pulled from media coverage and other public information. That doesn’t include actions taken that weren’t made public, according to Temin. […read more]
Crisis of the Week: Gynecologist’s Actions Bring Down USC’s President
Ben DiPietro, The Wall Street Journal’s Risk & Compliance Journal, June 4, 2018
University of Southern California President C.L. Max Nikias agreed to step down late last month, just over a week after allegations were made public that a longtime gynecologist at the school’s student-health center had sexually abused patients.
Mr. Nikias’ decision came after a letter signed by 200 tenured USC professors called on him to resign. It followed a Los Angeles Times report detailing accusations that university gynecologist George Tyndall for decades conducted improper pelvic exams on female students and made inappropriate comments.
A May 25 statement from the university’s executive committee of the Board of Trustees said the committee and Mr. Nikias “agreed to begin an orderly transition and commence the process of selecting a new president.”
A May 21 statement from university Provost Michael Quick denied university leadership knew of the doctor’s improper behavior, stating: “It is true that our system failed, but it is important that you know that this claim of a cover-up if patently false.” Prior to that, the university issued statements about the matter from Mr. Nikias on May 18 and May 15, and statements from other university officials on May 15 and May 16. University administrators also are contacting students.
Three crisis-management experts evaluate the university’s publicly released statements.
Davia Temin, president and chief executive, Temin and Co.: “USC’s formal responses…ring curiously hollow. One of the worst aspects of some crisis responses being edited by lawyers is they can have a pulled-back, wordsmithed, bloodless quality, borne from fear of being quoted in future lawsuits. They appear to defend when they should apologize and make common cause with victims. So at the very moment USC needed to show itself to be trustworthy, honest and authentic and devastated, its statements made them appear otherwise.
“No crisis response needs to be more emotionally resonant, believable, and true than from a college or university. After all, the crisis almost always has something to do with young people, whose welfare the school is entrusted with protecting. I’ve written hundreds of such responses. The effort needed to show real humanity, corrective action, and trustworthiness, even when the facts are sketchy or ambiguous. USC’s statements do not universally exhibit such effort.
“The only statement that really fit the bill is of USC’s new board chairman, Rick Caruso, in his [May 25] announcement. That quote speaks compellingly of his personal outrage and commitment.”
To read the full article, CLICK HERE.
5/31/18: Ambien, Roseanne and company reputation
Eve Tahmincioglu, Directors & Boards, May 31, 2018
This week the news has been dominated by a racist tweet shared by TV sitcom star Roseanne Barr. And in an attempt to shift blame, Barr blamed the drug she claimed she was taking, Ambien. In a rare move, the Ambien’s manufacturer, Sanofi, took to social media with its own tweet:
Should companies weigh in on things like this? Should such decisions be a board issue?
“I think the statement by Sanofi ranks as the all-time best corporate quote/tweet of the century,” says Davia Temin. “They distinguished their brand and their company in the mind of the public for all eternity, and did the right thing to boot. A master stroke.” […read more]
The ‘Roseanne’ reaction: What protections does the First Amendment actually afford?
John Enger, MPR News, May 30, 2018
In the small hours of Tuesday morning, comedian and TV star Roseanne Barr crafted a tweet that was widely seen as hateful and racist. Barr has since apologized for her tweet, and claimed she was using the sleeping drug Ambien when she wrote it.
Davia Temin says Barr is beyond hope. “I believe in the comeback,” she said. “This is America. We all do. Roseanne is not coming back. This tweet was egregious enough, there’s no coming back from that.” […read more]
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