Please answer the question in bold using the following information. Thanks Inter
ID: 381408 • Letter: P
Question
Please answer the question in bold using the following information. Thanks
Internal Target Audience: Employees, management, and Investors. This communication is regarding a lawsuit that was filed by a former Wendy’s employee alleging that she was fired for job abandonment due to an illness she had no control over, and no benefits to accommodate the days off.
Dear Internal Stakeholders of Wendy’s,
In a lawsuit filed in federal court Friday, Jamila Richey accuses Wendy’s of Bowling Green, Inc. of dropping her from the store schedule after two absences due to the cyst. According to Richey, she provided a doctor’s note to prove she was sick and would have to be hospitalized.
As the owner of this franchise, I was concerned by the claims and would try to rectify the situation if they were true. We will do the right thing, if errors were made in this restaurant — errors in judgment or otherwise — we will do the right thing and this employee will be brought back with backpay. I have no interest in having anything but a great place for all my employees to work at, and that includes this young lady.
Myself and the board of directors will be taking a closer look into our current employee benefits package and based on what we find, changes will be made to ensure that each employee would be entitled to some benefit of some sort.
Sincerely,
Wendy’s Franchise Group
Select one of the internal communication strategies above and conduct an analysis of the legal, compliance, and brand implications to stakeholders.
outline what legal aspects must be considered with the communication,
the compliance issues that need to be addressed, and
how the brand could be affected. Ensure that you clearly identify the original communication you analyzed.
Explanation / Answer
This internal communication is basically a damage control exercise undertaken by the Franchise owner who is concerned about the fall out of the complain/law suit filed by the fired employee Jamila Richey. The owner rightly anticipates that legally the decision of the restaurant may not be correct and in an event of adverse court ruling, the brand image would suffer immensely. Keeping this in mind the owner communicates to all stake holders the need to re-visit their existing employee benefit packages and work for improvement. The owner in fact anticipates a ruling that would favor the fired employee and hence is preempting her re-instatement with all back pays.
The internal communication is also clearly hinting at the need for a proper policy related to employee amenities and benefits; and anticipates the same might be raised in the court of law.
The fall out of the issue may not just be limited to employee benefit policies but would affect the brand in general as the issue was now out in public domain and media would highlight all that happens in the court of law. Hence, the Franchise owner has taken this issue seriously and issued this internal communication memo to address the issues amicably and avoid damages to its reputation and brand value.