Category Archives: Business

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Hurricane Preparation and Recovery Tips for Businesses

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The first Atlantic hurricane of the season is rapidly approaching the mainland United States, with experts currently expecting Hurricane Dorian to make landfall in Florida on Sunday. For businesses both in the storm’s path and beyond, it is important to take the opportunity to consider how to protect property from hurricane damage before and after storms. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that, on average, hurricane damage costs $54 billion annually, and even at this late date, there is always more businesses can do to try to mitigate such losses and damage to their property and operations.

One of the simplest steps is having an accurate replacement cost and business income valuation. If valuations were conducted previously, consider how long it has been and any significant changes, such as assets or location. It is also important to document the property before a storm arrives, including taking photos and videos, or even using 3D-mapping technology to record a detailed account of an entire space, building or structure. Most importantly, confirm with the insurer that the policy is current and that the terms, conditions, and limits are all well understood.

Creating and practicing a detailed disaster plan is another important step. Business owners can use risk modeling programs, which run a range of potential scenarios digitally to flag issues and create a more holistic plan. If digital modeling is unavailable, walking through or rehearsing plans can help identify potential issues. For example, built-in hurricane shutters are great, but if they are not tested ahead of time and then malfunction in the hours before a storm, it may be too late to find an adequate solution. When tailoring the disaster response plan, also consider the available coverage to limit out-of-pocket expenses after a storm. Coordinating with your insurance professional is the best way to minimize uninsured expenses.

One critical factor for any business disaster plan is how to protect data, including business data as well as plans and building layouts. House these valuable documents in a secure location in case of physical damage to the main data storage unit or computer drives. Insurance companies will likely request very specific information to process any claim, so speak with an insurance company adjuster in advance to determine what types of documents they need for filing a claim, then store those in an easily accessible online portal.

Create a business continuity plan that addresses how to expedite recovery or avoid interruption, potentially including employing an off-site workforce, creating an alternative workspace, and locating backup suppliers.

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It should also always include a communication plan so that key players remain connected. Business owners should engage with critical vendors and emergency responders in advance to assist with loss mitigation, temporary repairs, and restoration. Following a wide-spread catastrophe, these vendors are in high demand and having a preexisting relationship will help.

Once the storm passes, the first step must be communication: contact everyone to address safety concerns and identify their needs. Phone lines and internet service are often unreliable following a storm, and business owners should be prepared to use multiple forms of communication, from texts to emails and applications that use Wi-Fi.

After reestablishing contact, quickly document the damage (ideally in both photos and videos) since demonstrating the extent and cause of loss becomes increasingly difficult over time. Policyholders should notify their broker and insurance company of the loss immediately, and once damage is documented, policyholders must reasonably and with due diligence preserve and protect property and commence restoration while mitigating future risk. For example, if a structure suffers roof damage, but no action is taken to “reasonably and quickly” provide temporary cover, rain damage following the storm may not be covered as part of the storm’s damage.

Finally, it is critical to log all logistical and monetary details.

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After a hurricane, there may be challenges accessing damaged areas, so retain all notices, civil orders or police mandates concerning any access limitations to later provide the insurance company. An insurance company cannot expect a policyholder to put a tarp on a roof if access was prohibited. Likewise, policyholders should track all expenditures. After a disaster, the price of restoration services can increase dramatically, so acquire and keep multiple estimates of any cleanup, construction, or emergency service needed. Having these estimates will allow policyholders to assert the cost was both reasonable and necessary and receive reimbursement.

Hurricane season is already here but it is not too late to take preparative steps to help protect your business from the often unpredictable effects of storms. The only things business owners can control are the steps to help prevent and recover from damages.

Johnson & Johnson to Pay $572 Million in Opioid Crisis Lawsuit

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This week, a judge in Oklahoma ordered pharmaceutical company Johnson & Johnson to pay $572 million for its role in the opioid crisis that has ravaged the country and killed more than 6,000 people in Oklahoma alone. The ruling is the first to hold a drug manufacturer responsible for the crisis, which was fueled by companies flooding the market with addictive painkillers and pushing doctors to overprescribe the drugs. The amount is far less than the $17.5 billion that the state’s attorney general sought, and the company says it plans to appeal the ruling.

Cleveland County District Judge Thad Balkman ruled that the state met its burden in arguing that the company created a “temporary public nuisance” by using “misleading marketing and promotion of opioids,” and added in his ruling that “those actions annoyed, injured or endangered the comfort, repose, health or safety of Oklahomans.”

Judge Balkman cited Johnson & Johnson’s deceptive and aggressive marketing of painkillers to doctors, and the company’s practice of discouraging its sales representatives from discussing addiction or other negative consequences of using the drugs, while encouraging their prescription for both moderate and severe pain. The company also sought to convince doctors that they were under-prescribing pain medications and that having patients ask for higher doses was not a sign of addiction, just indicative of needing more to address their pain.

Johnson & Johnson markets the painkillers Duragesic (fentanyl) and Nucynta, both of which contain opioids. The company has also long manufactured the raw ingredients for other companies’ opioid-based painkillers, having bought a company in Tasmania in the 1980s that grows poppies and processed opium. According to the New York Times, by the height of the opioid epidemic, the company had become “the leading supplier for the ingredients in painkillers in the United States,” having developed a specific strain of poppy that provided the basis for Purdue’s Oxycontin, as well as manufacturing and supplying ingredients for “a range of other drugs, including hydrocodone, morphine, codeine and buprenorphine.”

Michael Ullmann, Johnson & Johnson’s general counsel, released a statement calling the judgement “a misapplication of public nuisance law that has already been rejected by judges in other states.” He also noted, “The unprecedented award for the state’s ‘abatement plan’ has sweeping ramifications for many industries and bears no relation to the company’s medicine or conduct.”

The amount decided for damages may actually seem low—$572 million will reportedly only fund a single year of Oklahoma’s opioid recovery plan, which the state estimates will cost $12.7 billion to $17.5 billion over 20 to 30 years. The company’s stock even rose this week, which some attribute to relief over the relatively low damages.

However, many are cheering the Oklahoma ruling as other lawsuits near their court dates. This includes a massive federal lawsuit scheduled for October in Cleveland, Ohio, that brings together more than 2,000 separate cases. Judge Balkman’s decision that the company’s activities constituted a public nuisance opens the door for similar rulings in other state cases, and an additional legal avenue for holding companies responsible for their part in the epidemic.

Also this week, Oxycontin manufacturer Purdue Pharma pledged to pay $10 billion to $12 billion to settle thousands opioid-related claims, according to NBC News. Purdue had been part of the Oklahoma suit, but to avoid the lawsuit, Purdue agreed in March to pay a $270 million settlement to establish an addiction treatment and research center at Oklahoma State University, and provide continued funding over five years. Purdue’s owners the Sackler family also agreed to pay $75 million to the center for five years. In May, Israel-based Teva Pharmaceuticals also settled with Oklahoma for $85 million, which will further fund the state’s effort to combat opioid addiction.

Inclusion Does Not Stop Workplace Bias, Deloitte Survey Shows

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In Deloitte’s 2019 State of Inclusion Survey, 86% of respondents said they felt comfortable being themselves all or most of the time at work, including 85% of women, 87% of Hispanic respondents, 86% of African American respondents, 87% of Asian respondents, 80% of respondents with a disability and 87% of LGBT respondents. But other questions in the company’s survey show a more troubling, less inclusive and productive office environment, and may indicate that simply implementing inclusion initiatives is not enough to prevent workplace bias.

While more than three-fourths of those surveyed also said that they believed their company “fostered an inclusive workplace,” many reported experiencing or witnessing bias (defined as “an unfair prejudice or judgment in favor or against a person or group based on preconceived notions”) in the workplace. In fact, 64% said that they “had experienced bias in their workplaces during the last year” and “also felt they had witnessed bias at work” in the same time frame. A sizable number of respondents—including 56% of LGBT respondents, 54% of respondents with disabilities and 53% of those with military status—also said they had experienced bias at least once a month.

Listening to those who say they have witnessed or experienced bias is especially important. When asked to more specifically categorize the bias they experienced and/or witnessed in the past year, 83% said that the bias in those incidents was indirect and subtle (also called “microaggression”), and therefore less easily identified and addressed. Also, the study found that those employees who belonged to certain communities were more likely to report witnessing bias against those communities than those outside them. For example, 48% of Hispanic respondents, 60% of Asian respondents, and 63% of African American respondents reported witnessing bias based on race or ethnicity, as opposed to only 34% of White, non-Hispanic respondents. Additionally, 40% of LGBT respondents reported witnessing bias based on sexuality, compared to only 23% of straight respondents.

While inclusion initiatives have not eliminated bias, Deloitte stresses that these programs are important and should remain. As Risk Management previously reported in the article “The Benefits of Diversity & Inclusion Initiatives,” not only can fostering diversity and inclusion be beneficial for workers of all backgrounds, it can also encourage employees to share ideas for innovations that can help the company, keep employees from leaving, and insulate the company from accusations of discrimination and reputational damage.

But building a more diverse workforce is only the first step, and does not guarantee that diverse voices are heard or that bias will not occur. Clearly, encouraging inclusion is not enough and more can be done to curtail workplace bias. And employees seeing or experiencing bias at work has serious ramifications for businesses. According to the survey, bias may impact productivity—68% of respondents experiencing or witnessing bias stated that bias negatively affected their productivity, and 70% say bias “has negatively impacted how engaged they feel at work.”

Deloitte says that modeling inclusion and anti-bias behavior in the workplace is essential, stressing the concept of “allyship,” which includes, “supporting others even if your personal identity is not impacted by a specific challenge or is not called upon in a specific situation.” This would include employees or managers listening to their colleagues when they express concerns about bias and addressing incidents of bias when they occur, even if that bias is not apparent to them or directly affecting them or their identity specifically.

According to the survey, 73% of respondents reported feeling comfortable talking about workplace bias, but “when faced with bias, nearly one in three said they ignored bias that they witnessed or experienced.” If businesses foster workplaces where people feel comfortable listening to and engaging honestly with colleagues of different backgrounds, create opportunities for diversity on teams and projects, and most importantly, address bias whenever it occurs, they can move towards a healthier, more productive work environment.

Governments Tackle Workplace Bullying and Harassment

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This week, South Korea enacted new legislation addressing “gapjil,” or bosses using their power to bully their employees. The measure criminalizes the practice of unfairly demoting or dismissing employees who have reported being subjected to bullying, imposing a three-year prison sentence or a 30 million won (approximately ,400) fine for the practice.

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Workplace harassment is common in the country, with two-thirds of workers experiencing harassment and 80% witnessing it, according to a recent government study.

South Korean advocacy groups like Gapjil 119, which operates a hotline for victims of abuse, have tried to fight against workplace abuses by cataloging and publicizing cases that range from employers forcing workers to pluck their grey hairs to serious violence and degradation. Several recent high-profile incidents have sparked a national debate over this conduct, including in late 2018, when videos emerged of Korea Future Technology CEO Yang Jin-ho and Marker Group CEO Song Myung-bin physically assaulting their staff members. Yang has been indicted, and Song is facing legal charges.

Experts say that South Korea’s culture of “chaebols,” or family-run conglomerates, has also enabled abuses because these companies lack external restraints on their executives’ behavior. Korean Air dynasty matriarch Lee Myung-hee was indicted in February for routinely physically and verbally abusing her staff, and Lee’s daughter, Heather Cho made headlines in December when she attacked two flight attendants for serving her macadamia nuts in a bag instead of a bowl, and demanded that the plane return to the gate. Cho was ordered to pay 20 million won (,000) to the flight attendants and served five months of a one-year prison sentence for violating aviation law.
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These and other incidents at the company even prompted a mass demonstration of Korean Air employees and the formation of an employee union.

Other countries are also attempting to address workplace bullying of this kind, similarly spurred by high-profile cases of abuse. This month in France, former France Télécom executives stood trial for overseeing an environment of workplace abuses that allegedly led to at least 35 employees committing suicide between 2008 and 2009. The company reportedly sought to downsize 22,000 workers, but could not fire them because they were state employees, so instead systematically harassed them to drive them out. Examples of this harassment included forcing employees to relocate multiple times away from their families or drastically changing their jobs. The case is awaiting judgment, but the company faces a possible fine of €75,000 (about $84,000) and the executives could serve a year in jail and have to pay additional fines themselves.

Additionally, Japan is attempting to address workplace “pawa hara” (or power harassment) as reports of workplace bullying and abuses have reached record numbers for multiple years in a row, according to the country’s Workplace Harassment Research Institute. The measures are partially in response to a government worker released an audio file of his boss, lawmaker Mayuko Toyota, insulting him and hitting him in the face and on the head. Toyota later resigned her post, and according to Kyodo News, was hospitalized for “her unstable mental condition.”

Japan’s parliament voted in May 2019 to revise five existing laws and require companies to put mechanisms in place to prevent workplace abuses. The revisions also protect pregnant women and women who have recently returned from pregnancy leave from discrimination.

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Similar to South Korea’s new law, Japan’s new law would bar employers from firing or discriminating against employees who report harassment, and require consultation when employees make reports of abuses. However, unlike South Korea’s law, these revisions do not outline any punitive measures for companies and their executives if they violate the requirements.

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The government reportedly decided against fully banning “pawa hara” because lawmakers had difficulty defining which actions qualified as harassment.