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Liability
Free Writing: You Can Do It!
Sue Hershkowitz-Coore,
CSP
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"Lawyers
are like beavers; they get into the mainstream and dam it up."
-John Naisbitt, Megatrends
The fact that Naisbitt's quote is more than a decade old, should make it irrelevant.
In fact, it is more pertinent today, than ever. Don't let the words you use come
back to haunt you!
When a Los Angeles based organization hired a new employee, they sent him a syrupy
sweet letter of congratulations. In part, the letter said, "We are delighted
you'll be joining our team. This a great company to work for... we are confident
this will be the beginning of a long and profitable relationship between you and
the XYZ company."
The new hire moved his family to Los Angeles to accept the position. Two and a half
years later, he was terminated. Upon termination, he sued the company for wrongful
discharge claiming the congratulatory letter constituted an employee agreement. The
result? They settled out of court for just under one million dollars.
A woman, hired by an organization in Maine, was provided with a company manual before
starting her job. She read through the manual as requested, and reported to work
the next day. The manual was written completely in the grammatical male pronoun (Each
employee will... He will be expected to... It will be his responsibility to... )
and when she reported to work, she didn't follow any of the policies. She was fired.
Upon termination, she sued for wrongful discharge, claiming that nowhere in the manual
did it say that the women in the office had to follow those procedures. The case
is still in the courts.
At a helicopter parts manufacturing plant in the southwest, an over 55 year old worker*
(*the age is mentioned not to discriminate, but because it's an important part of
the case), filed suit against his employer. He had worked for the company for 20
years and had an "unblemished record." (For twenty years, he went to work,
put in his time and went home.) He had been passed over for many promotions during
his twenty year tenure. He attributed this to the good luck of his friends (who were
around his age), and to his rotten luck. One day, he was passed over for a twenty-eight
year old "fast tracker." Out of frustration with his new young supervisor
(who he referred to as "the college boy"), he picked up a box of newly
manufactured helicopter parts and threw the box into the> wall. The box broke
open. Helicopter parts went flying everywhere.
"Destruction of company property" was grounds for immediate dismissal,
according to the company manual. Personnel marched in; recorded the destruction of
the property and security escorted the employee to his car. He sued for three things:
wrongful discharge, loss of reputation and fraud. Why? Remember the helicopter parts?
They were designed to be "indestructible." That's how every piece of literature
the company ever sent out described those parts. They were dinged; not destroyed.
The company settled out of court for 1.4 million dollars.
A tire company in Buffalo, New York received a complaint about a defect a customer
found in his tire. The customer service representative had learned it was clever
to empathize. He wrote, "I'm sorry about the defect you found in your tire,"
and then went on to explain that it was not a defect but a very natural process in
the rubber.
The customer sued the tire company for loss of income. He claimed he was on his way
to work, saw the problem in his wife's tire, didn't want her to drive on it, so he
gave her his car and he took the morning off to take care of the tire. Because he
was not at work, a major client pulled a project from him. Out of court, they settled
with him for $20,000.
What can you do to prevent these situations from happening to you?
Think about what you're writing!
Will saying "I'm sorry" really help your client? Will it make it easier
when he or she has to pay the penalty or worse? Will it really help anyone except
you to feel better?
I had hired a printer who had promised to drop ship the printed brochures at a trade
show. He and I were in constant contact, "Yes, yes, Sue, you'll have your printing."
When the scheduled time for delivery came and went I called the printing company.
No one could locate my sales rep or my order (naturally!). A few hours later, the
trade show doors opened and my rep rushed in. "I'm so sorry," he said.
"I'm so sorry, but we had a press breakdown and we weren't able to print your
brochures."
What was the only thing in the universe that mattered to me at that moment? Yes!
Getting my brochures or figuring out a solution to the problem. I wanted to know
when he was going to get me black and white copies instead of the four color I had
ordered... how he was going to compensate me for having to mail brochures instead
of having them available at the booth... when he was going to get me a few sample
brochures. What did I get instead? An apology! Did the apology do anything for me?
Not! It may have eased the sales rep's conscience a bit, but it did nothing to ease
my situation.
A beauty supply company I work with sells hair dye. Following directions for use
is important! When the package says to leave the stuff on for sixty seconds, they're
not joking! In addition, hair dye always comes with a disclaimer warning the user
to try the hair preparation on a portion of the head no one will see... just in case!
Occasionally, people come back to the beauty supply shop hysterical. Their hair turned
purple or green and that wasn't the effect they wanted! As part of my Delivering
Quality Service presentations, I've trained them to say, "I'm sorry your hair
didn't turn out as you expected." They are sorry! They wish the buyer's hair>
would have turned out the way they wanted. That would have been a win-win for everyone.
So they apologize human being to human being, but they don't take responsibility
for what happened. (To date, that phrase has not caused litigation.)
Think about what you're writing. Who is it helping? Why are you saying it? Does the
possibility exist that what you're writing may come back to haunt you? Think about
secondary readers. What might they read into it?
Build relationships! Communicate often.
Remember that old expression: "What goes around, comes around"? It's my
mother's way of reminding me to partner with my clients! By communicating often with
your clients, you form partnerships that build relationships. People are less likely
to sue someone they like!
The best way in the world I know to build relationships is to communicate often.
Any time you have the slightest hint of the possibility of a problem, delay, penalty,
communicate with your clients. If your firm is in the news because you're downsizing
or
rightsizing or growing, send announcements, notes, memos. The
more you keep people informed, the more willing they will be to
work with you if you need to make changes.
Keep your communications friendly.
Use words everyone can understand. The rule of thumb to ask yourself: Would I say
this to my client if we were talking instead of writing? Not many accountants I know
use words like hereunto, the prescribed, this will acknowledge receipt of when they're
talking! Yet these same people, when they write, seem to be intimate with these words!
Use for some reason, becomes utilize in writing! Help becomes assist! Show becomes
demonstrate! Keep your writing conversationally professional, clear and concise at
all times.
Consult legal counsel!
Most of us agree that the reason sharks don't eat lawyers is professional courtesy!
The reality is, however, we live in a highly litigious society. The best advice I
can give you is, when in doubt, check with your in-house counsel or a firm that specializes
in accounting or human resource matters.
Careful writing prevents conflicts. Friendly writing builds bridges. Clear writing
gets results.
Copyright
© 2001 High Impact Presentations.
A dynamic speaker,
Sue Hershkowitz-Coore, CSP mixes practical business applications, constant
research, and life experiences, to make a difference in the way your attendees think,
communicate and perform. With a foundation in education, a graduate degree in counseling,
and a UC Berkeley fellowship, Sue knows how to connect with your audience, head to
head, and heart to heart. As an entrepreneur, an author, and a sought after speaker,
she provides "meat and potato" strategies that can be immediately applied
to give you, and your attendees, the ROI you require. http://www.speakersue.com/
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