Fran Hawthorne, author of Ethical Chic—An Investigation of Starbucks, Apple, Trader Joe’s (and others) has joined the “Mock Tribunal of PR” of PRSA/NY Sept. 8.

hawthorne booksHawthorne, who also authored The Merck Druggernaut: The Inside Story of a Pharmaceutical Giant, will be on the same panel with Jacqueline Brevard, former chief ethics officer of Merck.

Chapter president Henry Feintuch had previously said that there was no more room on the panel when a place was sought for an O’Dwyer editor (since competitor Paul Holmes is in the panel). Feintuch apparently responded to criticisms about the dominance of males on the panel.

Brevard was the only woman panelist, although most of those in PR currently are women, according to a 3,766-word piece on the subject by Atlantic staffer Olga Khazan.

Other panelists are Randy Cohen, former “Ethicist” columnist of the New York Times; Michael Schubert, chief innovation officer, Ruder Finn; Steve Cody, Peppercomm, and Douglas Simon, D S Simon Productions.

The event is 6-8 p.m. Monday, Sept. 8, SUNY, 116 E. 55th st. It is free but reservations are required via the chapter.

Press Barred from Event

The chapter’s website notes that reporters are not allowed to attend the event but can view it on a webcast. The event is part of the chapter and national’s celebration of September as “Ethics Month.”

Hawthorne has written for Fortune, BusinessWeek and Institutional Investor where she is currently a senior contributing editor.

A graduate of the University of California at Berkeley, Phi Beta Kappa with a B.A. in English, she is also the author of Inside the FDA: The Business and Politics Behind the Drugs We Take and the Food We Eat. She was born in Philadelphia and also grew up in Los Angeles, Western Pennsylvania, Lowell and Lexington, Mass.