Law And More

Princeton and Joshua Katz - Focusing on the Tragedy of Job Loss, Since We Don't Know What Really Went Down

"Princeton Fed Me to the Cancel Culture Mob - The university claims it fired me for a long-past offense—for which I was already punished—but the truth should worry everyone."

That is what former Princeton tenured professor in classics Joshua Katz wrote in his opinion-editorial in The Wall Street Journal. 

Yesterday, The WSJ carried the story of his dismissal from Princeton. The article reported:

"Princeton University’s board of trustees voted Monday to fire longtime classics professor Joshua Katz, adopting the president’s recommendation and finding that the faculty member failed to cooperate fully in a sexual-misconduct investigation."

What Katz rails against is that misconduct incident - a consensual relationship with a 21-year-old student years ago - had already been dealt with. Back then he had been suspended without pay for a year. In the op-ed he refers to this second round of punishment for that "double jeopardy."

What Katz contends is that he is being penalized for controversial statements he has made regarding social and cultural issues. Some would classify the matter as one of free speech.

But given the complex dynamics of academic decision-making by the power structure, most of us really don't know what factors resulted in the termination. Of course, investigative reporters could dig and maybe they will. But the rest of us only have a They-Said and He-Said. 

Since we don't know it is probably wise in this era of extreme turmoil not to adopt this as a cause. Not in advocacy of Katz and not in advocacy of Princeton. 

Of course, it is sad for anyone to lose a job. Even if this were simply a reduction-in-force or a stealth layoff tragedy could stick to it. In America we are our professional identity. Katz has lost his.

In 1987, I was ever so gently laid off from a middle management corporate position. There was almost a year's severance, including health benefits. I went on to launch a successful executive communications boutique. However, the humiliation and hit to my confidence were sticky. To today I continue to play around in my head what I could have done differently.

Law and More has empathy for the blow of a job loss could be for Katz.

Connect with Editor-in-Chief Jane Genova at janegenova374@gmail.com.

 

Amber Heard and Other "Imperfect" Victims of Alleged Domestic Abuse - #MeToo In-Play

"#MeToo is over if we don't listen to 'imperfect' [alleged] victims like Amber Heard." - Martha Gill, The Guardian, May 22, 2022.

#MeToo had caught fire. We all know that.

The high-profile females who contended they have been "victims" of sexual misconduct were, well, not imperfect.

As they presented their complaints there was no "evidence" that they might have collaborated in what they alleged had happened to them. In addition, they were what we think of as "solid citizens." No, they didn't have to be Saints. Some who had become caught in the alleged sexual abuse by power brokers in media had been quite ambitious. Society remains ambivalent about that trait in females. 

So much for the victims who met the specs for the acceptable victim.

Then came along Amber Heard. Some fear her streaming presence could make #MeToo go poof. In a 2018 The Washington Post op-ed she contended she had been a survivor of domestic abuse. In that piece she didn't mention her former husband Johnny Depp by name.

Nevertheless, he filed a $50 million defamation lawsuit. The result is one of those Trials of the Century which will wrap this week. It's sucking up so much media oxygen. 

Well, Heard is not a solid citizen type. She is been labeled the "imperfect victim."

For example, she said she would donate all her divorce proceeds to charity. That didn't happen.

There is also a recording of her hitting Depp. 

In addition, the skilled lawyers representing Depp from Brown Rudnick are knocking the stuffing out of her on cross-examination as well as through objections. That's so much the situation the BR lawyer Camille Vasquez, although not a partner but an associate, has become a TikTok star.

However, what Gill and others are pushing back with is this: #MeToo was intended to give voice to imperfect victims. They didn't have to fit the traditional stereotype of the Good Girl. 

However movements are fragile. Remember the late 1960s and early 1970s Counterculture? That too caught fire. The severe recession of the mid 1970s essentially ended that Do Your Own Thing ethos. We got it that we had to do what The Man demanded. Some of us even felt that our Counterculture selves had represented excess. 

#MeToo also could be what a society leaves behind. 

Connect with Editor-in-Chief Jane Genova at janegenova374@gmail.com.

 

UK Branch of White & Case Gets Sued By Terminated Employee Michael Wistow for Mental Impairment Issue - Soft Issues Resonate in US Court of Public Opinion

"[In the UK] A senior lawyer [Michael Wistow] accused law firm White & Case LLP of being a 'toxic' place to work alleging he was fired after suffering from mental health issues triggered by his wife’s death from cancer." - Bloomberg, May 19, 2022.

Before termination Wistow had been co-head of the EMEA tax practice. His lawyers contend that the anxiety and depression he experienced during his wife's illness and after her death should be legally treated as a "mental impairment." Wistow states he was unable to do his day-to-day work but received no support from the law firm.

That UK branch of the US law firm White & Case, however, contends that grief over the death of a loved one does not constitute disability under British Equality Act.

That's British law or, at least, how lawyers for White & Case are interpreting it.

Meanhile, these issues of an alledged toxic workplace and mental impairment are bound to resonate in the US legal sector. Overall, lawsuits by former employees against law firms receive quite a bit of attention. That's even more the situation if they involve soft issues. Currently, the parental leave rights for fathers litigation "Savignac v Jones Day" is sucking up plenty of oxygen in the court of public opinion. And attention, the saying goes, is the currency of the 22nd century.

Connect with Editor-in-Chief Jane Genova at janegenova374@gmail.com.

Followers, Page Views, Likes, Comments, Shares - Even C-Span Has to Play the Social Media Game

C-Span is becoming like the rest of us: Hyper-tethered to the ongoing metrics of social media. Politico reports how it is re-thinking much of how it presents content to boost those metrics. 

Some of the pressure has come as a result of cord-cutting. Revenue from cable is less. In addition, in this attention economy C-Span has to keep figuring out how to get, hold onto, and grow the number of eyeballs. What attracts those eyeballs to C-Span is essentially the same of what attracts eyeballs to social networks such as Twitter.

What we can say to the leaders and management at C-Span is: Welcome to the game. It's one of escalating competition. Always there is a fresh presence which sucks up so much of the social media oxygen. If that occurs in one of our niches that could mean our metrics take a hit. If that happens not only can our business be affected negatively. Our confidence can also go south. 

Keeping out numbers up has been added to the must-dos for success. Yes, I check them too often. I also check how my colleagues are making out. I worry about any dip (which is usually temporary) too much. And I rejoice too wildly about a surge. 

There's no ambiguity. For professionals, not only teens, social media impacts our mental health. That's the way it is. Unlikely that will change.

Connect with Editor-in-Chief Jane Genova at janegenova374@gmail.com. 

From Crypto to Leadership - Boring Is So Back

"The crypto shake-out shows boring is back." - Financial Times, May 14, 2022.

The Wall Street Journal confirms that. Folks are bulking with with mundane certificates of deposit again. 

The same dynamic - back to boring - also could take hold in leadership. The over-the-top brash style of Elon Musk - will he or will he not purchase Twitter - has become less attractive. Way too much disruption, so much of it uncessary and not productive, has been unleashed. 

In contrast there had been the brilliant but predicable leadership ethos of former head of Disney Bob Iger. Some speculate with Disney in such turmoil, that calming force might be brought back. 

Queen Elizabeth has always been slow and steady. She has lasted 70 years in that leadership role.

On ABC, David Muir had taken over the Nation's Father role of Walter Cronkite. There for us, rather than caught up in himself. 

Reflection: Have we become wary of entities and professionals who suck up all the oxygen?

Connect with Editor-in-Chief Jane Genova at janegenova374@gmail.com.

Lordstown Motors - Should Folks in Northeastern Ohio Abandon All Hope of an Economic Resurrection?

Stock price isn't everything. But it's a major tell.  Today EV startup Lordstown Motors' price nosedived 6.44% to 1.67. That's way down from its 52-week high of 15.80. And the drivers don't have much to do with what is killing the stock prices of more established players. 

Axios reports the pessimism surrounding EV startups in general. They are facing the same constraints as the big boys like Ford. Those include:

Frozen supply chains

Materials inflation

Fierce competition

Volatility about stock prices.

But, they lack the resources to absorb the blows and even if they did, where do they wind up? In contrast to Ford, they don't have that kind of production capacity. They also don't have the brandname. Axios gives good marks to the Ford EV F - 150 Lightning Speed.

Overall, Lordstown Motors has been plagued with trouble. Some of it involves government scrutiny. That all represents the possibility of no economic resurrection in Northeastern Ohio. Things there weren't too swift when GM shut down its one-time three-shift Cruze production facility.  In the era of the SUV, the subcompact wasn't selling. The area, unlike Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania had not diversified after the steel industry collapsed. Pittsburgh built niches in healthcare, education, and technology. 

So much hope had been placed on Lordstown Motors. It was high-tech. It was green. It was, unlike the low-demand Cruze, producing a pickup truck. 

Now, here we are. Northeastern Ohio needs a miracle and that probably won't come in the form of Lordstown Motors.

Connect with Editor-in-Chief Jane Genova at janegenova374@gmail.com.

OMG - The Dow Closed So Down

The plunge: 653.61 points.

Guess not too many will be toying with the idea of retiring. And, retirees depending on withdrawing from investment accounts to make ends meet might have to unretire. For those whose work-search abilities have atrophied, here is my complimentary guide Download Outwitting ageism to land hold and

Connect with Editor-in-Chief Jane Genova at janegenova374@gmail.com

ESG, Abortion, and Corporate Leadership - Proxy Season

“Corporate America reacts with near silence to draft abortion ruling. – Executives are reluctant to engage in one of the most divisive debates in US.” – Financial Times, May 5, 2022

PROXY SEASON

That’s on the one hand.

On the other hand, there are proxy proposals by both retail and activist investors related to what corporations are doing internally about abortion. Those corporate leaders, who aren’t saying much or anything, better be all-ears. This is proxy season. And it is an unusually active one for shareholders pushing back against abortion limits. The new protest chant for mobilizing support for retaining abortion rights could be: Buy stock.

Meanwhile corporations should anticipate that abortion could catapult them into being the “Next Disney.” Only on a different matter.

SEC POLICY CHANGE

One might say that the SEC set this in play.

Recently, reported Bloomberg Law, the SEC had made a policy shift. Essentially that will allow more retail and activist investors to place proposals about climate and social matters as a proxy. During 2021, the SEC had turned down 30% of corporations' requests to put the kibosh on those proposals. That means there are fewer approvals of the corporations' requests for "no-action letters." The situation has unraveled so quickly that some corporations have thrown in the towel in even asking for them.

ABORTION AS ESG MATTER

During this proxy season those shareholder proposals about defending abortion rights will speak up loud and clear to public companies about what is perceived to be the right thing to do on this issue. Yes, abortion has become an ESG (Environmental Social Governance) matter. Bloomberg Law notes:

"Walmart Inc., Lowe’s Cos., and TJX Cos. represent what’s potentially the tip of a burgeoning trend in shareholder activism in this area [abortion rights]: All three companies will face votes on proxy proposals in the coming weeks aimed at shaping internal policies related to abortion access."

 OVERALL, SHAREHOLDERS AS FRONT-LINE GAME-CHANGERS

In the January 2022 edition of Corporate Counsel, Paul Weiss Chairperson Brad Karp and David Curran, Co-Chair of the law firm’s Sustainability – ESG Advisory Practice, warned of this development. What they spell out is this:

“… companies are increasingly held accountable … by shareholders for their ESG performance. [These are] buoyed by support from large institutional investors and advisory firms such as Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) and Glass Lewis ... Activist shareholders [are] winning proxy battles and gaining access to previously undisclosed documents. This is a game-changer.”

BEYOND THE RIGHT THING TO DO

The investor push on abortion rights might contain a big piece of self-interest. Abortion limits have evolved into a high-profile ESG matter. Therefore, that directly affects the acceptability and pricing of what are classified as “Sustainable Investments.” According to Bloomberg Intelligence, by 2025 ESG Investments could reach $53 trillion. That would represent more than one-third of the projected $140.5 trillion of the total assets under management.

A major risk in any Sustainable Investment is this: In that same Corporate Counsel article, Karp and Curran refer to “weak links.” The validity of an ESG investment could blow up if some aspect of corporate values or behavior – or that of members of its supply chain – conflicts with formal ESG criteria. Corporate mindsets or actions taken regarding abortion could mutate into such a weak link.

INTERSECTING FORCE FIELDS

So, here corporations are. They are being tossed around amid intersecting force fields. Those include the accelerating momentum of the ESG movement, the urgency of the abortion issue, activist shareholders, and the big money involved in Sustainable Investing.

This proxy season will be closely watched.

Connect with Editor-in-Chief Jane Genova at janegenova374@gmail.com. Now and then she does freelance assignments for professional services firms such as Paul Weiss.

College as The Self-Killing Fields - Most Recent Suicide is Arlana Miller, 19-Year-Old Cheerleader

Arlana Miller, a cheerleader, is dead. She was 19 years old. And her death is yet another suicide, while attending college. That's so soon after suicides of college athletes Katie Meyer and Sarah Shulze. 

Miller did leave a long note. She attributed this decision to a long history of suicidal ideation and since entering Southern University and A&M College a struggle with school work, COVID, and an injury to the ACL ligament. But we know so little about suicide that we assume that she only put together a narrative that would hang together for herself.  Did she really understand the forces driving her to take her own life? We don't know. 

What we do know is that, according to Governors State University, suicide is the third leading cause of death among college students. In a survey, 10.3% of students admitted that in the last 12 months they had seriously considered taking their own lives. 

Also what we know is that back in our boomer college years suicide was not common. A classmate in our graduating class of 500 at Henry Snyder High School, Jersey City, New Jersey, did take his life during his freshman year at a New York university. That was talked about a lot because is was rare. Somehow the rest of us managed to get through the four years. That was even though most of us had been first-generation college students. Coming home for holidays had been rough.

Interestingly, it was primarily after college that we started falling apart emotionally. But there weren't suicides. Not then. We were the first Therapy Generation. Maybe that "saved" us? Currently, of course, activist students are lobbying for more mental health services on campus. They might be focused on a tool that can buy time when the distressed can sort out.

The Samaritans is a free, confidential, 24/7 service for those in emotional upheaval. On the line are caring listeners. Give it a try - 212-673-3000.

 

Those Layoffs - You Can Help the Unemployed Through the Power of "Weak Ties"

Is it looking somewhat like 2008 - 2009? Let's hope not. 

THE LAYOFFS ARE HAPPENING

But something ugly is developing in the labor market. Insider reports:

"Layoffs are sweeping across American businesses in the first few months of 2022 ... The reason, broadly, is twofold: Business growth is slowing, while labor costs are increasing. The combination is causing American companies across a variety of industries to slash headcount."

SUCH PAIN

The pain is palpable. On LinkedIn Updates, Stephanie Washington shared the horror. She was supposed to begin a recruiting position at Meta Monday. Not long after she signed her lease Meta contacted her. She was laid off. Yes, before she had even started the job. Severance? Six weeks. 

Meanwhile, as Insider notes, the layoff at Better totaled 4,000. At Noom 495. And so on. Next week, given the cratering of financial markets, both traditional and crypto, there will likely be more high-profile job cuts.

PARACHUTE IN AND BE A "WEAK TIE"

But you who still have work can do more than just feel the pain.  You can serve what has proven out to be an effective way to get folks back to work. Yes, stimulating well-paying work. That's by serving as what is called a "weak tie."

In the early 1970s, sociologist Mark Granovetter discovered in his research that those outside of our usual professional networks are most useful in a job search. Here is the paper he published on that concept in 1973.

The power of weak ties comes from three sources:

• The security guard in that Manhattan trophy building, the real estate agent, and the firefighter know of movements in the job market that public relations representatives, lawyers, and others might not. That's because they travel in different circles. Most good jobs aren't advertised. They have to be ferreted out. Weak ties can be primary source of information about them. And what they are really looking for.

• Those weak ties are not in competition with the job searcher like traditional ties. Therefore, they are more likely to share that information. A colleague might actually intentionally conceal a possible job lead. 

• Weak ties do not "pigeonhole" the job searcher to only certain types of work. Colleagues do that all the time. Therefore, weak ties will tell the marketing communications professional about an opening in op-ed ghostwriting. Likely colleagues will never think about considering the marcom expert for a different type of communications opportunity. 

So, yes, pick up what you can about potential work for the laid-off. And make it your mission to share it.

WEAK TIES AND MY WORK HISTORY

My first full-time job in communications came through a weak tie. That represented a career change from academia. The weak tie had been an acquaintance from college whom I only had caught up with through a mutual friend. The University of Pittsburgh was searching for a writer in media relations. During the previous seven months I had built up through freelancing a solid portfolio of writing samples. 

More recently it was a weak tie in a law firm who guided me to a well-paying communications assignment. No, it wasn't the traditional tie of an account executive in a public relations agency who knew of lawyers who needed writing assistance. 

Connect with Editor-in-Chief Jane Genova at janegenova374@gmail.com.