Students from the all-boys Covington Catholic High School in Kentucky traveled to Washington last month for the March for Life rally.
Controversy arose after someone posted to Twitter a 10-second videotaped encounter at the Lincoln Memorial showing one male student, who was wearing a hat embroidered with the “Make America Great Again” slogan, characterized as smiling and smirking at an older Native American man who was playing a drum.
The reaction and rush to judgment was swift, with social media exploding in criticism for the students involved, the school and the hats. Even the bishop from the Diocese of Covington and school officials rushed to issue criticism of the students for their actions.
Then, a much longer video surfaced, showing an extremely different version of events and included a confrontation with a cluster of Black Hebrew Israelites.
By the time the public viewed the longer version, the initial video confrontation had spread online and in the media that levied aggressive, threatening and disparaging backlash.
The bishop has since issued an apology, claiming his initial reaction was premature.
In today’s social media frenzy, employers can be faced with similar mob-like behavior from the public about one of their employees, forcing employers to feel the need to react quickly.
To avoid the same debacle, here are five suggestions:
1. Set expectations: Employees must understand that what happens after hours could affect their careers. Online behavior, or conduct after hours that negates an employee’s ability to cooperatively work in the workplace, might compel an employer to take disciplinary action.
For example, when white nationalists rallied in Charlottesville in 2017, a Twitter site titled “Yes, You’re a Racist” sought to identify attendees and then inundated their employers with demands for termination. One such participant, Cole White, worked at Top Dog restaurant in California and attended the rally.
After a Twitter follower identified him, his employer endured such pressure to take action against the employee, White resigned.
2. Plan: Create policies and processes that can be quickly activated. Just like employers plan for inclement weather, plan an emergency response team in case of a public relations event.
Make sure all people on the team (for instance, a senior leader, someone from human resources, an attorney, the public relations representative and someone from security) know their roles.
3. Don’t rush to judgment: Regardless of the incident, step back and buy time. If the organization feels compelled to remove the employee from the workplace pending an investigation, then place the individual on paid administrative leave.
Everyone deserves fairness in the process. This recent culture of guilty until proven innocent needs to stop.
4. Investigate objectively and thoroughly: Employers need to fully investigate and take the necessary time to review the evidence.
Even when there is pressure to take action against a person, telling the media or public that the matter is being investigated is a perfectly reasonable and appropriate response.
Simply stating, “We are aware of the concerns and are conducting a fair and through investigation” should suffice.
Employers should avoid succumbing to outside influences and pressure during the investigation.
Select an independent investigator who can fairly assess the facts, without bias and influence. Allow that person to objectively present the findings to decision-makers in confidence.
5. Render fair and objective findings: The decision you make might not be popular, but it needs to be fair.
These cases present complicated public relations concerns largely because the public relies upon misinformation it finds on social media from people with bias instead of relying upon evidence and facts.
Your organization needs to rely on investigatory findings and should take all the time it needs to render a fair and appropriate decision.