WARREN, Ohio - Today's headlines are full of crisis and scandal, especially now that the Me Too movement and more claims of sexual harassment are surfacing in Hollywood and the corporate boardroom.

Former NFL player and Struthers native turned attorney John Gerak told a group at the "Western Reserve Chapter of Society for Human Resource Management" that in the face of a crisis, how a company reacts can make or break that company's reputation.

“Because how a company responds is often how they're gauged,” Gerak said. “They're not gauged on the actual issues, but how they respond to those issues.”

NBC Network executives wasted no time firing longtime Today Show co-anchor Matt Lauer following multiple allegations of sexual harassment and misconduct.

“In most situations, the promptness of the response is important and also being truthful and candid and sympathizing with the issues that may have been caused,” Gerak said.

University Hospitals in Cleveland is dealing with a crisis of a different kind as more than 500 families try to understand what happened at Cleveland's University Hospital Fertility Clinic when a storage tank malfunctioned, potentially impacting at least 2,100 frozen eggs and embryos. Lawsuits are now being filed.

“What we look at is what the magnitude or the potential scope of the issue,” he said. “how broad is the scope and how big can it become? How big of a crisis can it become?”

Gerak said failing to respond to the issue can do more harm than good.

“Because the lack of communication in a crisis situation can give rise to concerns that there's something more there; that the company is trying to hide something.”