Question

ROLE-PLAY EXERCISE On Command Corporation PROCESS You have been assigned a role in the On Command Corporation case. Please read the general information (Introduction) about the case. Read and understand your role. Your teammates have different roles. Due the situation, you need to work with your team to produce an employee meeting, you have 15 minutes to present the statement and conduct the meeting – see the link attached with information about an employee meeting (you need to create a statements, be prepare for questions, and defend your organization). Key Issues Sexual harassment Employee retaliation Appropriateness of product This role-play was developed by Mark Arvizu, Ira Baeringer, Mark Hess, Kelley Hoven, Bill Speights, and Jennifer Sawayda for and under the direction of O.C. and Linda Ferrell. © 2015 On Command Corporation Background (Everyone reads.) On Command Corporation (OCC) is a world-leading provider of interactive in-room entertainment, information, and business services to the lodging industry. The company annually serves more than 250 million guests through 950,000 rooms in approximately 3,450 hotel properties. OCC provides on-demand and, in some cases, scheduled in-room television viewing of major motion pictures and independent non-rated motion pictures for mature audiences, for which guests pay on a pay-per-view basis. Depending on the type of platform installed and the size of the hotel, guests can choose up to 50 different movies with an on-demand system, or eight to 12 movies with a scheduled system. In addition to pay-per-view movies, OCC offers other services such as short subjects (such as yoga and sporting packages), Internet services, music, game services, and other hotel and guest services. OCC obtains the non-exclusive rights to show recently released motion pictures from major motion picture studios during the time period after the initial theatrical release and before home video or cable distribution. The company also contracts with a variety of other vendors and distributors of in-room entertainment for the other products it sells to hotels and guests. OCC negotiates contracts with major hotel chains and individual hotels that involve agreement on the type and extent of movies and services that are offered. Programming choices are key for OCC to differentiate itself from competitors. As guests order movies, they are shown in their rooms and then appear on their bill at check-out. Depending on the contract with the hotel, it may receive some of the profits from the movie ordered. The PS4 games are the least profitable, while adult films are by far the most profitable. Although not disclosed directly, most of the company’s revenues are from adult movies. In fact, some analysts estimate that up to 80 percent of the revenues OCC generates are from its adult movie business. A new management team has come to On Command and is evaluating the company’s strategy and business plan. Although the company has been around for 10 years with 2014 revenues of $262 million, it still has yet to become profitable. Three recent events have re-kindled discussion about the true nature of the company’s products, as well as potential ethical issues. The first situation arose when several female employees complained to their superiors about feeling uncomfortable in the presence of a certain male colleague, Ted Jones, because of what they say are “lewd” remarks about women. Ted Jones is the senior adult film editor whose job it is to edit adult films to reduce graphic sexual content. When approached about his actions, Ted defended himself by denying the allegations. Due to lack of concrete proof, Ted was given a warning and the women who filed the complaint were told just to avoid Ted whenever possible. However, more complaints have surfaced, and the human resources department has decided to conduct an investigation. The second issue arose from a complaint filed by another female employee, Donna Wilson, working as an administrative assistant. She threated to file suit against the company because of the way she was treated. She was personally offended by the content of the adult movies. Although she had signed a document that clearly stated the nature of the videos available for viewing in her office upon her hire, she protested and said that the adult portion of the OCC product line should not be viewable in any of the corporate offices because it was sexually offensive, degraded women, and promoted sexual harassment in the workplace. She also insisted that the true extent of the sexual content was not explained to her when she signed the agreement. After hearing her complaint, her supervisor informed her of the release she had signed and also told her she had the clear choice not to work there. Since that time, Donna alleges, she claims she overheard her supervisor telling other workers to shun her at work because she was a troublemaker who refused to be a team player. She has also been cut out of meetings and claims the supervisor is constantly cutting her down in front of her colleagues. Finally, it has recently come to management’s attention that there has been a drop in revenue due to the deliberate refusal of many hotels to offer the adult film products as they would conflict with their quality, “family-friendly” image. The increase is this type of product censorship has led to a drop in revenue for OCC. At a recent meeting at Liberty Media (OCC’s parent company), several questions were raised about the ethical nature of OCC’s primary revenue source. Questions such as these were presented during the discussion regarding what to do with struggling OCC. A big question is whether it was masquerading as an entertainment company with many different product offerings to mask the fact that it is really in the adult movie business. Management is not sure whether it would be wise to disclose where most of its revenue comes from. Also, is the nature of how the company handles the editing of adult films internally encouraging sexual harassment and retaliation of female employees? The management team decided to develop a business strategy they could use going forward.

AND I AM Pam Stone – General Counsel You joined OCC at the same time Chris Smith did. You both came from another subsidiary of Liberty Media, the parent company of OCC and several other entertainment type companies. Your specialty is more in the contract and merger and acquisition area. However, you have been dealing with a tremendous amount of employment-related issues. The human resources department has been significantly cut, meaning that you must often work in close proximity with Don Randall, the human resource manager. Chris has made you aware that all of the offices contain televisions, and employees have the same access as hotel guests. This includes the adult films. You have recently begun to research charges brought up by Ms. Wilson. You feel that adult movies should not be watched in the workplace unless they are being edited or viewed for possible selection. You learn that many employees frequently watch adult content in their offices, although most claim they do so during their break time. OCC has about 300 employees in the field who work directly with hotels to install the product as well as perform updates to products. Unfortunately, the system OCC currently uses does not allow for updates to be done electronically. The field service employees see the adult films during the updating process. OCC also manufactures its own “box” that allows the pay per systems to operate. As part of the testing process, the manufacturing employees must test each line of products by watching to make sure they work properly regular cable, short subjects, games, and adult films. The human resource manager Don Randall has provided you with waivers and disclaimers that all employees sign upon hire indicating that they may be exposed to adult film content during their employment. However, Ms. Wilson’s claims have gone beyond simply being offended. Now she is claiming that her supervisor has begun retaliating against her because she complained. This could certainly be grounds for a lawsuit if not handled properly. Don Randall has also asked you for assistance in handling some potential sexual harassment allegations he has heard. Since you came to OCC, you have been responsible for collecting and providing due diligence to an outside law firm to review for a possible merger and/or sale. You were intimately involved in the contract to secure an additional $60 million investment from Liberty Media. You have also been involved in many of the discussions with Chris Smith and executive VP and CFO Bill Moore as to what the company strategy needs to be.

case presentations what can be my answer for this case if I am the general counsel Pam Stone it could be 1 or 2 it does not matter thank in advance

Base on the reading case and my position what could be my answer to this ???

Answer 1

The person of interest of top priority here should be Dona Wilson. Considering that she had complained twice, there are two possible cases here :

1- Donna is trying to catch attention as she was not heard earlier (no action taken for the adult content)

2- Donna is being victimized

Now as Pam Stone, you should first conduct a one to one session with Donna and other employees, and after thorough investigation, you should be able to decide which of the above is true.

Now if 1st point is true, Donna should be counselled by a professional counselor explaining the kind of industry she is working in and these things are quite normal in adult industry.

If 2nd point is true, there should be a second round of investigation dealing with the concerned male employee as why is he trying to target her. If charges are found to be true, a warning should be issued to the supervisor.

In either case, before coming to a concrete conclusion, a thorough investigation is required.