Corporate Governance and Internal Investigations Category Archives — Kang Haggerty & Fetbroyt LLC News Published By Kang Haggerty & Fetbroyt LLC

Legal Intelligencer: Internal Investigations in the NFL: Lessons for Organizations Large and Small

January 20, 2022 | Edward T. Kang and Ryan T. Kirk

For practitioners, these Daniel Snyder events provide helpful tips relating to how organizations both large and small should conduct internal investigations.

In the January 20, 2022 edition of The Legal Intelligencer, Edward T. Kang and Ryan T. Kirk of Kang Haggerty co-authored “Internal Investigations in the NFL: Lessons for Organizations Large and Small.”

Daniel Snyder, the embattled owner of the Washington Football Team, has been in the news again recently for all the wrong reasons. No stranger to scandal, Snyder has now been accused of interfering with the 2021 investigation into the workplace environment of his organization. This is just another in a long list of controversies Snyder has found himself embroiled in, which include suing financially distressed season ticket holders during the Great Recession, banning fans from bringing signs to FedEx Field, and rebranding his franchise after its former namesake was retired. This, coupled with Washington’s lack of success during his tenure, has led some to label him the worst owner in all of professional sports. Continue reading ›

Legal Intelligencer: When to Hire Outside Lawyers to Conduct an Internal Investigation: Revisited

April 9, 2020 | Edward T. Kang

Magnifying glass
In the April 9, 2020 edition of The Legal Intelligencer Edward T. Kang, managing member of Kang Haggerty wrote “When to Hire Outside Lawyers to Conduct an Internal Investigation: Revisited”

In early November 2019, I wrote an article about the high-profile women who had called on Comcast to conduct an internal investigation regarding the alleged widespread culture of sexual harassment within the company. I discussed this issue and the rising calls for internal investigations within many industries and companies and their importance.

Since that article was published, Comcast has not been able to leave the spotlight on this issue. If anything, the calls for an internal investigation have only grown stronger. For example, four Democratic presidential candidates (Cory Booker, Kamala Harris, Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren) called on the Democratic National Committee to make a formal demand on Comcast to perform an investigation regarding sexual misconduct before the November debate which was hosted by Comcast-owed MSNBC. Also, in November, Comcast went before the U.S. Supreme Court in an appeal of a U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit decision permitting a $20 billion racial discrimination suit to proceed against the company. Though the Supreme Court has not yet ruled on the matter, you should keep an eye out for its decision in Comcast v. National Association of African American-Owned Media.

Legal Intelligencer: When to Hire Outside Lawyers to Conduct an Internal Investigation

November 7, 2019 | Edward T. Kang

In the November 7, 2019 edition of The Legal Intelligencer Edward T. Kang, managing member of Kang Haggerty wrote “When to Hire Outside Lawyers to Conduct an Internal Investigation.”

The call for an internal investigation, not unique in the wake of the #MeToo movement, is not simply confined to the media and entertainment industries—although we may know more about them due to the high profile of many of those involved.

Recently, a number of high-profile female journalists associated with NBC News called for its parent company, Comcast, to begin an internal investigation to address alleged sexual harassment within the news network’s workplace. As one of the country’s most successful corporations, Comcast, based here in Philadelphia, is faced with a need duplicated by many Fortune 500 companies—hiring outside counsel to investigate an internal matter.

Megyn Kelly and Gretchen Carlson, key figures in exposing the decades of misconduct by the late Roger Ailes, have been vocal in their support of the need for an internal investigation. In that case, Fox failed to address complaints aimed at the former chair and CEO of Fox News. The allegations detailed in Ronan Farrow’s current best seller, “Catch and Kill,” not only reveals the depth of the issues, but highlights the potential damage to the profile of a successful business. The letter signed by Kelly and Carlson reiterated claims of a “corporate culture of widespread sexual harassment and abuse.”

The call for an internal investigation, not unique in the wake of the #MeToo movement, is not simply confined to the media and entertainment industries—although we may know more about them due to the high profile of many of those involved. Continue reading ›