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Don't Be United in Facing Your Next Crisis
Already this year, we have seen our fair share of public relations missteps by large corporations and high-profile individuals: Think Pepsi's flawed Kendall Jenner commercial or Sean Spicer's confusing Hitler comment made during Passover. However, the one incident that caught — and held — the world's attention above all others was the video of a United Airlines passenger being dragged forcibly off of a flight that had been overbooked. This video sparked outrage across the globe, resulting in a swift media storm of controversy for the company. There were outcries to boycott the airline for its treatment of the passenger, and criticism of the CEO's response to the situation.
As horrible as a public relations nightmare this fiasco was, it is not the legality of United's actions that is the issue; clearly, the airline has the right to remove passengers. (How they do that is another issue.) Perhaps the issue that may have the greatest impact on United is how the airline initially responded to the incident that helped fuel the flames of the controversy and turned a PR crisis into a complete disaster.
Before I recount a play-by-play of United's public relations missteps, keep in mind that law firms can learn from United's mistakes. Even if you follow the law and all the internal protocols your firm has in place, you may still find that clients and the public view your actions negatively. In situations where you believe you are in the right, the instinct is not to apologize. However, as the United situation proved, the reluctance to take responsibility and make amends can have seriously dire consequences.
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