Canadian HR Reporter

CANADIAN HR REPORTER November 28, 2016 NEWS 3 Knowing when to draw the line Beer can-tossing incident another warning for employers to take protective measures BY MARCEL VANDER WIER A BEER CAN incident at a base- ball game in Toronto, and subse- quent loss of employment for Ken Pagan, serves as a stark warning to corporations seeking to defend their brand, say experts. The now-infamous moment came during the American League wild-card game that saw the Toronto Blue Jays at home ver- sus the Baltimore Orioles. With Orioles player Hyun Soo Kim set to catch a fly ball, a partially filled beer can came flying over the left- field wall and landed just to the outfielder's left. While Kim made the catch, the incident set off a social media firestorm in the city and even- tually cost the alleged thrower, Pagan, his sports copy editor job at Postmedia, though details sur- rounding his dismissal were not publicized. Pagan was charged with mischief and due in court in late November. Implementing proactive policies e incident begs the question: How do organizations best pro- tect their brands from rogue em- ployees committing acts of mis- chief in public? Get a social conduct policy in place as soon as possible, said Terry Flynn, assistant professor of communications management at McMaster University in Ham- ilton, Ont. "Organizations need to have so- cial media policies and guidelines for expectations of conduct," he said. "It's the same kind of stan- dard for when companies engage celebrities in sponsorship, that they're held to the same kind of moral expectations." The organizations that have good cultures are the ones doing a really good job in alerting em- ployees to what those expecta- tions are, said Flynn. "I think, more and more, HR and legal are going to say: 'Look, we live in a fish-bowl world. Here's our expectations, and if you act in any way publicly that is contrary to the reputation or expectations of the company, then there will be consequences.'" e advance of social media technology has forced organiza- tions to pen internal guidelines and moral integrity clauses in collaboration with HR, said Flynn. "It went from not just how you should use it and represent your- self, to how you should conduct yourself while using this and being associated with the organization. is is where communications, HR and legal really have to play a significant role," he said. "What's the expectation when somebody internal goes mad on social media? And what happens when we are the recipient of a so- cial media swarming? "On social media, most people see it as the Wild, Wild West. 'No- body's going to stop me or hold me accountable. Nobody's going to catch me.' But we know that's just not the case. Brands are tak- ing this very seriously." Policies should cover employee conduct and behaviour at public events and corporate events, as well as on social media, said Patri- cia McQuillan, president of Brand Matters in Toronto. "at is probably in many em- ployment contracts, these days," she said. "ere are still compa- nies catching up but in the last five to 10 years, with the advance of social media, there's been more attention to these policies due to the lack of messaging control." Still, no amount of corporate policy could have prevented the knee-jerk reaction in the beer- tossing incident, said McQuillan. "I don't think that individual was sitting in the stands thinking about his HR policies," she said. "at's probably more of a re- action behaviour as opposed to the guy going to the game plan- ning that, whereas social media typically is more planned or con- trolled because you're making the effort to post." Be ready, not hasty But even with behavioural stan- dard policies in place, legal advice should be garnered by employers before making a decision to ter- minate, said employment lawyer Laura Williams of Williams HR Law in Markham, Ont. "Because our own individual judgment can impair an objective assessment, you really should get legal advice," she said. "You can't make a quick judg- ment. You really have to do an assessment of the nature and character of the employee's em- ployment, the nature of the mis- conduct, and the nature of the employer's business activity, and really make an assessment with respect to whether or not the al- leged or before-proven miscon- duct could cause actual harm." Termination isn't necessar- ily the answer to all crises, said Williams. "Employers should not hastily come to termination decisions when they learn of alleged off- duty misconduct," she said. 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