4.1 Biomatrix case exercises - student module  (Page 7/21)

You have been charged by balazs and denlinger, as publicist, with designing a rapid and effective campaign against this cyber-smear. several issues have arisen that demand your immediate attention:

1. The identity of the cyber-slanderers is unknown. What can you do, if anything, to find out who these individuals are?
2. One of the slanderers claims to have worked for Biomatrix in the past. He/she uses this to lend credence to the attacks made on the company and its managers. If true, is there anything that can be done to prevent future employees from resorting to slander as a way of retaliating against the company?
3. If the real identities of the individuals posting the Yahoo messages are revealed, should they be sued? What are the advantages of defamation lawsuits if those sued do not have the financial resources to compensate the victim for damages suffered?
4. Should the cyber-slanderers be attacked? If so, how? How, in general, should corporations and their managers respond to cyber-slander? By publicly refuting the messages? By ignoring these attacks? By ignoring them until they produce clear damage? Or by responding quickly and proactively before they produce damage?

Decision point two: defending against defamation:

Biomatrix managers feel that the company has a problem if its former employees find the motivation to behave in this manner. you are a human resource official in the biomatrix and it has fallen on you to design a strategy and program to prevent a reoccurrence of this cyber-smear disaster. what should you do?

• Bring a defamatory lawsuit against the three? Would this help to recoup damages? What other benefits could a successful defamation lawsuit bring? What would be the downside of such an action?
• Alter the way in which employees are let go. (In other words develop procedures for firing or laying off employees that would defuse the desire to get even.) What could be done to sever a relation with an employee in as good a fashion as possible?
• What steps could be taken to reduce the possibility of a former employee taking a “short selling” strategy? For example, could steps be taken to restrict the ways in which former employees use the confidential information they have about the company? Could risk identification measures be taken to uncover those who could or are benefiting from short selling a company’s stock?
• Could Human Resources develop an effective program to counter cyber smear by effective communication of true and accurate information? How can a good reputation be established that could serve as a basis for counter-acting defamation?
• In short, design a strategy for Biomatrix that could minimize the risk of future cyber-smear attacks and/or minimize the impact of these attacks. Defend your strategy in the Ethics Bowl debate.