Since the attacks of September 11th, there has been a common perception that terrorism and Islamic militancy are one and the same. This is understandable to an extent. After all, there here have been a number of prominent terrorist groups such as Al-Qaeda, Hamas, and Hezbollah, claiming to be fighting for Islamic ends. Moreover, the War of Terror has put a spotlight on jihadi groups while largely ignoring non-Islamic terrorist organizations. However, terrorism was hardly invented by fundamentalist Muslims. Indeed, the word “terrorism” itself probably originates from the French Revolution, an event far removed from the Islamic world. Terrorism has never been, nor will it ever be, an exclusively Muslim phenomenon. It has been perpetrated by groups of all ideological stripes, in all places, over many generations. Two separate, yet telling, events bear this fact out. Continue reading
In another post addressed the importance of applying the principles of duty of care to traveling employees as well as employees in the permanent workplace. We discussed how duty of care for traveling employees makes not just good moral sense, but good business sense as well. In this post, we will be taking an in-depth look at the legal ramifications that can arise if companies fail to fully embrace their duty of care obligations. Continue reading
On April 24, hundreds of Occupy Wall Street demonstrators converged on San Francisco to protest the annual Wells Fargo shareholder meeting. The protestors gathered to oppose, what they felt to be, Wells Fargo’s excessive executive pay and high rate of home foreclosures. About 30 activists were able to gain access to the meeting and disrupt its proceedings. The next day, a similar protest was held in Detroit outside of General Electric’s shareholder meeting. Regrettably, these two demonstrations do not look like isolated incidents. The Occupy movement is planning a series of similar events across the country in more than 115 cities.
Demonstrations and political protests have the capacity to harm companies on a number of fronts. Not only do they disrupt corporate operations, they also often result in reputational harm. In extreme cases, they have the potential to cause significant property damage and may even threaten the safety of personnel. However, there are a number of things firms can do in order to mitigate the risk caused by protestors. Continue reading