This week's show opens with an announcement on the podcast's future, so give it a listen and see what's coming! We can't wait. For our last show prior to the summer break, we sped through several issues including the White House stepping in to block non-compete clauses, Amazon's backtracking on its dispute resolution process after customers found a…

With everything going digital in workplaces, it's getting harder and harder to keep secrets or speak with others in confidence. Three leaders in Netflix's marketing team found this out the hard way after they were fired for making disparaging remarks about the executive team at Netflix. Ewan walks us through what happened with advice on avoiding a …

Companies have more tools than ever to broadcast their own messages, whether it's via a website, podcasts, newsletters, social media, or all of the above. Breene Murphy from Carbon Collective and the Forbes Communications Council joins the show this week to share his own experience with content marketing, as well as examine Andreessen Horowitz's de…

We ran through more topics on Episode 63 than we have in any other previous episode! (And somehow managed to keep it under an hour...) We kicked off the show by mentioning the major anniversaries that are clustered in early July: Canada Day falls on July 1, as does the anniversary of Hong Kong's return to Chinese sovereignty. There's Independence D…

Episode #62 marks our last show in June, so what better way to welcome in the summer months than by examining two high profile and embarrassing scandals. Cam and Ewan return to the awkward Jeffrey Toobin apology and explanation live on CNN, but this time look at it from CNN's perspective. Unlike the New Yorker, where Toobin worked for 27 years, CNN…

It was a busy show this week, with Ewan and Cam discussing everything from Covid vaccinations to Netscape; Christiano Rinaldo to Alexander Hamilton. So let's get started. Paternity leave is a subject people love to debate. Policies on fathers taking leave to help out at home when a newborn comes along vary widely by jurisdiction -- but it could be …

We've talked a lot about legal cases on the show, but this week Ewan brings our attention to other effective ways to handle disputes. Mediation can be a useful part of any dispute resolution process and help lower the temperature, especially in particularly charged cases. Ewan argues it's also a great way for companies to manage bad press as the me…

We have dedicated a whole show to a subject that will affect hundreds of millions of people worldwide: flexible working hours and "work from home". While staff in many Asian countries have been back to the office for a while now, companies in the United States and Canada are now rolling out announcements for an imminent return to the office. The pr…

We faced some outright silliness this week. Ewan brought up Amy Cooper, who we discussed way back in Episode #8 after she phoned 911 because a black man in Central Park - who was bird watching - asked her to put her dog on a leash in a section of the park that requires dogs be on leashes. The video left no ambiguity about what happened, but it seem…

What a show! We covered a lot of ground this week, including the issue of social media and its impact on people's job prospects. Somehow we didn't touch on this fundamental issue in the previous 56 episodes of the show but certainly made up for it this week. Ewan provides information on how companies use social when screening candidates and Cam pro…

We've talked a lot on the show about how the workplace is changing, primarily due to demographic shifts as well as the pandemic. This week, Ewan goes into some detail about how confused managers or executives can navigate this new world and advance their workplace culture. The steps aren't easy -- though they aren't too hard, either -- and definite…

Peloton, that premium brand that makes pricey exercise equipment for wealthy urbanites, has a knack for finding itself in the news for the wrong reasons. You may recall a television commercial that featured a man buying his wife a Peloton for Christmas, which thrust the company into social media wars. Now the problem is much worse: a six-year old c…

It's probably happened to you: a work or school meeting held virtually over Zoom when your boss or instructor asks you to turn on the webcam. Everybody seems to have a different take on whether this is okay, but Cam and Ewan stand firmly in the camp of not wanting to turn on their cameras -- but it might not matter. Can your boss ask you to turn it…

Last week Cam talked about preparing for his first Pfizer shot in Hong Kong, and this week we find out that both hosts got their first dose last week after Ewan secured an early appointment as well. Ewan had some side effects with the Astra-Zeneca vaccine while Cam had no trouble with the Pfizer-BioNTech one, but the second dose might not be as eas…

We made a full year! What better way to mark the first anniversary of the PR & Law Podcast than with another humiliating story of a bumbling, high-profile individual and his lack of computer skills. No, it's not Jeffrey Toobin redux -- it's a federal politician in Canada who went out for a jog, returned to his office, launched Zoom for a high-level…

This week we learned that the strongest push yet for a union inside e-commerce juggernaut Amazon fell short. Ewan sifts through the wreckage to try and find the way forward for both the company and its staff. We also discuss how labor unions have fallen out of favor and might need an image overhaul. "Cancel culture" seems to be on everyone's lips t…

The ballots have been cast and the counting has begun on a vote that could bring foundational change to Amazon.com, the "everything store" that has only grown during the pandemic. Amazon has fought hard against unions in the past, and some are fearful of what Amazon might do once the ballots are counted and the result is known. Ewan looks into what…

While vaccinations are happening and people are itching to get out from under the year-long COVID-19 pandemic, some parts of life may never go back to normal -- such as remote work. Ewan and Cam have a spirited debate on the merits of remote work, why some people thrive and others have problems adjusting. The discussion is against a backdrop of a G…

Workers often suspect their bosses may be spying on them, either via security cameras or software that can track their internet use. But as Ewan explains this week, it's gotten much, much worse than that. New, more invasive technology is driving a boom in companies surveilling their staff with tools like real-time monitoring of staff computer scree…

Sometimes companies inadvertently draw media attention for a mistake -- or gaffe -- in their communications. Amazon is a great example, which just had to change its new phone icon because people felt it resembled Hitler's mustache. Burger King has a different story, though -- it walked itself right into a crisis. Five controversial words landed the…

The pandemic has shaped or impacted nearly every business over the past year, including how PR professionals use social media and other digital tools to get their messages out. This episode marks the first time we've done a "State of Social Media for Corporations", and it contains some surprising trends. Social media use by Fortune 500 companies ha…

It was a rough week for New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo after two former staffers came forward to complain of sexual harassment. While many cases have come to light amid the #MeToo movement, Cuomo's case has some unique wrinkles that are worth discussing. We dissect his PR approach and explain why, while it may not work as well as he hopes, it…

It's that time of year when people are out looking for jobs, and employers are posting new openings. Ewan brings some timely advice on how both employers and prospective employees can protect themselves. A hint: even smalltalk can have big consequences. Then we look at the story of Texas Senator Ted Cruz, who was caught red-handed boarding a flight…

Traditional media companies around the world were facing tough economic circumstances before the pandemic started, and are now in an all-out struggle just for survival. It's in this context that Bell Canada, one of the country's largest media conglomerates, laid off hundreds of people across the country. Layoffs happen, but they shouldn't happen li…

We touched on a couple of cyber-bullying cases during last week's show, with online harassers terrorizing victims for more than two decades and leaving many of them broken. This week, Ewan looks at a recent court case that provides some hope for those who've suffered from online harassment. Then we turn our attention to Amazon and news that Chief E…

This year certainly hasn't started quietly! After intense media focus on Washington DC in early January, it shifted quickly to Wall Street this week after Redditors helped launch a small retail stock into the stratosphere. Some have called GameStop the first "meme stock", but it's no laughing matter for some large hedge funds. If you've heard about…

Public speaking is often a big part of the job for PR professionals, and this past week provided some excellent examples of how to do it right. We mention the inaugural address of US President Joe Biden, of course, but focus much more closely on Amanda Gorman, the young poet laureate who stole the show with her emotional and uplifting poem. Her per…

WhatsApp has won the title of biggest #PRfail of 2021! The popular chat app, owned by Facebook, created its own crisis when it sent a sloppy notification to two billion people that sparked an exodus from the service. Cam provides some important context and explains what went wrong, with lessons about how poorly-executed communications can lead to a…

Happy New Year! It's great to be back to kick off 2021 -- and already there's no shortage of topics to discuss. While the storming of the US Capitol dominated coverage last week, Ewan focused on some news that flew under the radar: Google staff are unionizing. Actually, that's not entirely true, but a group of staff at the search engine giant has t…

The vaccines are being rolled out as we speak, but that doesn't mean COVID-19 is behind us. The pandemic has left tens of millions of people out of work and companies struggling to stay alive. This week, Duntrune LLP's Matthew Dewar joins the show to share his expectations for employer/employee relations in 2021. While some long layoffs might be co…

It's the end of the year, and that can sometimes mean layoffs. It's cruel to let somebody go right before Christmas - at least in western countries - but it happens more than you'd think. This week Ewan helps explain the meaning behind terms like "terminated with cause" and "without cause," and the steps employers should take to reduce risk and tre…

We had lots of content planned this week, but a late-breaking story drove a number of requests to the PR and Law Podcast... and we definitely take requests! The longtime anthem singer of an NHL team was fired in a public way after taking part in a "freedom rally" to oppose government restrictions amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Did the team have ground…

It looks like we're getting closer to a COVID-19 vaccine, and maybe several of them. Once they're approved and available for widespread distribution, it raises the question of whether employers can demand their employees be vaccinated. There are a number of thorny legal issues around vaccinations and safe workplaces, so Ewan walks us through the po…

An article appeared in a Canadian newspaper this week alleging that workers are slacking off while working from home, "stealing" time from their employer. Ewan completely debunks this argument, saying work has only infiltrated more parts of our lives and left us working longer hours than ever before. Cam and Ewan also discuss what a modern workplac…

We had the privilege of welcoming Edelman Hong Kong Head of Corporate Simon Murphy to the show this week to get his perspective on how the PR industry has changed over the years, what companies often overlook when putting a communications plan together, how the recent US presidential election affected clients far beyond the United States, and what …

We wondered if we'd have a winner declared by the time we recorded Episode #31, and we just made it: Joe Biden was declared President-Elect after securing enough votes in the electoral college to secure victory -- but not without some drama. We dive into all things election, including the chronology of events on election night and the advice PR tea…

We welcomed special guest Allyson Lee to the PR & Law Podcast this week to talk about her case, which was heard before the Supreme Court of Canada. Very few cases make it that far, so Lee's experience is more rare than you'd think. She walked us through it, from strange book binding to the feeling of directly addressing the seven justices. Lee won …

It's not everyday that a case like this lands on our lap: a prominent journalist exposed himself on a company Zoom call, apparently unaware that his colleagues could see what he was doing. It's embarrassing, to be sure, but what's the legal case against the New Yorker's Jeffrey Toobin? He claims it was an accident, so is he still liable for sexual …

We've all heard about workplace investigations, and many of us have been a part of them in some form or another. This week Ewan talks about why workplace investigations are sometimes necessary, how employers should conduct them to ensure they mitigate risk, and provides some surprising advice for employees who find themselves in investigators' cros…

The dreaded Performance Improvement Plan is something workers want to avoid, but employees do have ways to protect themselves. Ewan gives some great advice on how to respond to PIPs, as they're known, and ensure that your voice is heard. On the management side, Ewan explains what companies should do to make sure their PIPs are air-tight. Then Cam d…

We debate Walmart's recent settlement of a class-action lawsuit claiming the company had discriminatory hiring practices because of a physical test used to screen candidates. Ewan looks at the thorny issues of candidate screening, what Walmart did wrong, and what other companies should be careful of during the hiring process. US President Donald Tr…

We hit the quarter century mark by looking closely at the internal strife at Facebook after audio from staff meetings was leaked to reporters. Ewan looks at the situation from an employment lawy point of view, but it also raises several big questions about how the company deals with PR challenges both internally and externally -- made even more com…

While America continues to wrestle with racism, most people would be shocked at how tolerant other countries are of overt discrimination. Case in point: the removal of Star Wars actor John Boyega from Jo Malone's advertisements in China -- because he's black. It's not the first time this has happened to black actors in China, and not even the first…

It's not widely known outside of China, but the country's food delivery services are already light years ahead of everyone else. The food delivery market - estimated at US$45 billion per year, or double the size of the U.S. market - has grown by cutting costs to the bone and promising shorter and shorter delivery times. Then a magazine's expose loo…

We open the show talking about renewed protests in both the United States and Hong Kong, then dive right into the confounding issue of workplace cultures after Netflix's strange unique work environment became public. How do office cultures form? Are they top down or bottom up? Regardless, they are contentious because workplace cultures can often be…

What a week! Another senseless killing of a black man in America by law enforcement, an historic boycott by NBA players, more violent protests in U.S. cities, and the 2020 Republican National Convention thrown in too. We get through all of it, looking for PR wins and tough lessons, particularly for companies looking to find the right words to commu…

Uber and Lyft drivers in California are demanding to be treated as employees, with all the benefits and protections that entails -- but will it work? Could the ride sharing companies survive? We tell you what the law says, dissect the PR battle being waged, and explain why it's a fascinating case that could reverberate across the entire gig economy…

We dissect the fascinating case of former McDonald's CEO Steve Easterbrook, who was fired last year for having a consensual relationship with an employee in violation of the company's policies. Fast forward to this week, when McDonald's management announced they uncovered other relationships and sued Easterbrook to claw back his severance package. …

The scandal engulfing Ellen DeGeneres has been a PR nightmare for the popular talk show host, but also creates a significant challenge for the brightest minds in PR. We dissect what has transpired so far, where mistakes were made, and sift through advice from PR professionals on what to do next to save the show -- and her own reputation. COVID-19 c…

The author of "Crisis Ahead: 101 Ways to Prepare for and Bounce Back from Disasters, Scandals, and Other Emergencies" Edward Segal shared practical advice for companies communicating with staff about COVID-19, including how to manage layoffs or furloughs in a caring, empathetic way. He also critiqued Facebook's communications performance from the C…