As 2011 comes to a close, the ‘best of’ stories are being featured everywhere.  One ‘best of’ that I see over and over is the best viral videos like these on CNN.com…

Gotta Watch: Best viral videos of 2011

December 29^th,2011

“We’ve posted a lot of videos on CNN.com this year, but the ones that seem to be the most popular are the viral videos. From the hilarious barking cat to the incredibly talented mini-Nicki Minaj, 2011 has been jam-packed with some incredibly amusing videos. In the spirit of the end of the year, we at Gotta Watch put together the four most-watched viral videos on CNN.com in 2011. Enjoy!”  Read full story here…

Viral videos being the top ‘best of’ lists goes to show just how popular social media is in our culture now.  With this in mind, AFI has launched its social media investigations services to assist clients in this vast area.

Absolutely, workplace violence takes on all different forms whether it be physical or verbal, staff or customers.  Assessing and responding to a threat of violence became a reality for some Air Canada pilots and flight attendants recently.  Even for the passengers that assisted, crisis negotiations – dealing with difficult people in difficult situations couldn’t have rang more true – thousands of feet in the air, make shift restraints including hands on, 80 minutes to the closest landing area…I’d say that is text book for a difficult situation.

Drunk RIM executives forced plane into lockdown; court transcript

Vanessa Lu Business Reporter

Two drunken RIM executives mixed alcohol with prescription sleeping pills causing such a serious disturbance that their Air Canada flight was forced to land in Vancouver, according to a court transcript.

Crown counsel Gerri-Lyn Nelson painted a frenzied scene aboard flight 31— a Toronto to Beijing journey — where passengers had to help flight attendants, more than once, subdue the men, who fought to get out of their restraints.

In the final 80 minutes of the flight, the plane was in complete lockdown, with no passengers allowed out of their seats…

Read complete article here

…Parsonage, who had sought a discharge for his clients, said alcohol and prescription drugs were involved. “There was an unfortunate mix there. They both acted in a very outrageous way but they’ve plead guilty to the charge,” he said.

Nelson quoted from passenger statements that alleged Wilson pushed a flight attendant, while Campbell threatened “to off people when they left the plane.”

Both men allegedly threatened passengers and crew, according to the statements.

Read more…

Greyhound President and CEO Dave Leach turned some potentially damaging comments into an extremely creative marketing ploy by responding to Alec Baldwin’s slam.  After American Airlines had to engage Mr. Baldwin with nonviolent confrontation techniques and investigate an issue, Mr. Baldwin went on to take shots at American Airlines by comparing them to Greyhound – intentionally or unintentionally taking a shot at Greyhound.  Mr. Leach smartly wrote Mr. Baldwin a public letter for some fantastic free advertising – a description of Greyhound services are now being read by countless people following this story (excerpt below)…

Alec Baldwin ticks off Greyhound

By A. Pawlowski, CNN
…In an open letter to the actor issued Thursday, Greyhound President and CEO Dave Leach said he was disheartened to hear about the comments Baldwin made about the company.

“I’m the first to admit that Greyhound has had some challenges in the past, so I understand that you probably were basing your comments on that alone. But we’ve made so many changes in recent years to significantly improve the travel experience,” Leach writes.

“My guess is you’ve never traveled with us, but I ask you to give us a try for a number of reasons and see for yourself that we’re really a great way to travel.”

Leach then touts the hundreds of new buses the company has added to its fleet as well as the extra legroom, leather seats, power outlets and free Wi-Fi.

“I think you especially would find the latter two amenities exciting, because we don’t require our customers to turn off their electronic devices … ever. You could therefore play ‘Words With Friends’ during your entire trip and nobody would give you any grief over it,” Leach tells Baldwin in the letter.

Read entire story here.

Well done – the American Airlines flight attendant must have followed rules regarding nonviolent confrontation management because there was no report of them acting inappropriately, but not the same for Alec Baldwin unfortunately.  As well, after Mr. Baldwin took to Twitter to rant, American Airlines quickly responded on Facebook exhibiting some excellent crisis communications practices – by conducting a quick investigation into the matter, and not pretending the incident didn’t happen by engaging it head on.

American Airlines responds after Alec Baldwin kicked off flight:

(CBS/AP) LOS ANGELES – American Airlines took to its Facebook page Wednesday to explain its actions after Alec Baldwin complained he was kicked off a flight for playing a Scrabble-like game on his cell phone as the plane was about to depart from Los Angeles.

Without mentioning the “30 Rock” star by name, the airline said an “extremely vocal customer” declined to turn off his phone when asked to do so by a flight attendant.

The customer then stood up “with the seat belt light still on for departure” and took his phone into the plane’s lavatory, the company continued.

“He slammed the lavatory door so hard, the cockpit crew heard it and became alarmed, even with the cockpit door closed and locked,” the airline’s post said.

Read more…

An excellent article and stats on Canadian HR Reporter regarding corporate theft and fraud.  From our experience, we can confirm that companies often believe their exposure to fraud is low, but often times we are able to not only present evidence contrary to that, but uncover other issues that would require undercover investigations like drug abuse or potential workplace violence issues.  Here is the article…

Workplace fraud costs employers billions annually

Most SMEs ill-equipped to respond to problem: CGA-Canada

Workplace fraud in Canada costs small and medium enterprises (SMEs) billions of dollars each year, according to a research report from the Certified General Accountants Association of Canada (CGA-Canada). Collective losses are estimated at $3.2 billion for 2010. Yet many firms are overlooking the problem or underestimating their vulnerability.

“The risk of workplace fraud is almost certain to rise as economic growth slows and more employees experience financial difficulties,” said Rock Lefebvre, CGA-Canada’s vice-president of research and standards and co-author of the report. “It’s a genuine threat and companies need to be vigilant. It may be a case of pay now, for prevention, detection and response measures, or quite possibly pay later.”

Read more…

Canada’s leading background screening company joins forces with AFI International to bring insurance investigations services to its nationwide clients.

Responding to a rise in Canadian insurance fraud, ISB Canada, a leading source document company, is partnering with AFI International, an elite security firm that provides best-in-class insurance investigations.  ISB clients will be able to take advantage of these investigative services at AFI, effective immediately.

The extensive list of insurance investigation services offered through AFI International will include: GPS technology, surveillance, background investigations, witness location & statements, bodily injury claims, accident benefit, evidence collection, litigation testimony and more.

Read more…