Whose Court? A California court is deciding whether or not to honor a clause that prohibits Wells Fargo customers from suing the bank over the phony accounts scandal. Should the clause hold, wronged customers will be forced to go to arbitration instead, which is considered a more benign option for the bank. Wells Fargo agreed earlier to pay $185 million in penalties and $5 million to customers. It’s also offering affected customers free mediation services. “Wells Fargo made a big show of promising to treat…customers better, but now we can see just how meaningless that promise is,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) complained Nov. 28 on Facebook. While it seems likely the court will rule for Wells Fargo, we’re guessing the move might not play as well as in the court of public opinion.
...And Courting Good PR: A better move by a brand whose customers were wronged comes from Delta. A customer spewing sexist invective disrupted Delta flight 248 from Atlanta to Allentown, Pennsylvania, Nov. 22. Brand communicators almost can guess what happened next: The incident was caught on video and went viral on social media, where Delta took a beating. The brand recovered well, though. In a statement Nov. 26, Delta said, “We are sorry to our customers who experienced this disruption. We have followed up with the teams involved and all agree that this customer should not have been allowed to continue on the flight…The behavior we see in this video does not square with our training or culture and follow up will continue so we can better ensure our employees will know they will be fully supported to make the right decisions when these issues arise.” The day after that statement, Nov. 27, Delta CEO Ed Bastian issued a memo to employees; it was also released publically. Bastian began by thanking employees “for the amazing job you did…during the busy Thanksgiving holiday.” He also seconded the Nov. 26 statement: “After questioning the customer, our team members made the best decision they could given the information they had…however, if our colleagues had witnessed firsthand what was shown in the video, there is no question they would have removed him from the aircraft. He will never again be allowed on a Delta plane. Part of being a reliable travel partner and a servant leader is acknowledging our mistakes so we can learn from them and respond more effectively in the future. Delta has apologized to the customers onboard that flight. We are also refunding those customers the cost of their tickets.”
Still Bleeding:For a company that abhors speaking to the press, Theranos can’t avoid staying out of the news. Word of another investor lawsuit against it came Nov. 28, and this one could snowball into a class-action suit. Just days later, Dec. 1, news broke that President-elect Donald Trump’s choice for Secretary of Defense, William Mattis, is a Theranos board member. Emails show Mattis, while an Army general, pushed for the company’s unproven blood-testing product to be used in the field. After retiring from the Army, Mattis joined the Theranos board. He’s not the only politico, though. The bipartisan group includes Republicans Henry Kissinger, George Shultz and Bill Frist and Democrats Sam Nunn and William Perry. Kissinger, Shultz, Frist, Nunn and Perry will leave the board Jan. 1.
M&A: Golin launched Golin Belgrade in partnership with Ruskin & Hunt, a PR agency in Serbia. Djordje Odavic will lead. – Sard Verbinnen & Co. said it will launch Strategic Governance Advisors in January to advise boards and corporate leaders on governance issues important to institutional investors. -- MSLGROUP acquired North Strategic, an indie PR firm based in Toronto.
Burson-Marsteller and IPR Honoree
People: The world’s largest privately held spirits company, Bacardi Limited, named K.C. Kavanagh SVP, global CCO. The former Starwood Hotels & Resortsveteran will report to Mike Dolan, CEO. She replaces Jim Gallagher, who’s stepping down Jan. 1. – Hill+Knowlton Strategies named former Republican National Committee executive director Scott Reed a senior advisor. He’ll continue his work at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce while at H+K. – WE Communications named Stephanie Marchesi president, health sector and eastern region, a newly created role. Previously, she served as senior partner, CMO and managing director of global client relations at FleishmanHillard. – Sad news that George Glazer, who spent nearly three decades at Hill+Knowlton, passed in late Nov. “I always envied George’s contacts, but moreso the respect he earned within the media world. He was one of PR’s media greats,” Tom Hoog, global vice chairman and former H+K U.S. president/CEO, told us. – Congrats to the Institute for Public Relations on its 60th birthday and 55th annual distinguished lecture & awards ceremony, held Nov. 30, in NYC. Props to Burson-Marsteller vice chair/chief client officer Pat Ford on his terrific acceptance speech.