On the field, the Cardinals are better than many expected they would be. Off the field, the struggles continue.
Kalyn Kahler of TheAthletic.com has taken a close look at the alleged “culture of fear” within the Cardinals organization.
The story begins with an account of an employee survey that “disappeared into thin air,” apparently because the responses “tore [owner] Michael Bidwill to shreds.”
Kahler spoke to more than a dozen current or former employees who provided details about the situation. All were granted anonymity, due to their fears of retaliation by Bidwill.
And Bidwill is the common denominator in the complaints. He comes off as unpredictable and erratic in the information provided by the employees. The report also contains information suggesting that a different standard was applied to female employees.
“There’s a lot of cubicles outside of his main office, and you can’t really speak normally most of the time,” one former employee told Kahler. “Like you have to peek and see: Is Michael in here today? Can you act normal? Can you not? It was so unpredictable. Sometimes he is in a good mood, sometimes he’s not.”
As to the survey, a team spokesperson provided this statement to Kahler: “The 2019 survey was not ignored. In fact, significant action was taken based on its feedback, the most prominent of which was the creation of the Chief People Officer role. Some changes were immediate, like the employee wellness initiatives announced in February of 2020, just weeks before COVID shut down the country. Others took longer as a result of the pandemic.”
The full article is worth a read. The real question is whether the folks at 345 Park Avenue will be reading it, and whether it will be the final straw that results in the Commissioner dispatching Mary Jo White to do a full investigation.
The stream of public complaints from former employees like Terry McDonough and Ron Minegar has not prompted outside scrutiny. The fact that Kahler’s report calls into question the manner in which some former employees were treated could be the thing that justifiably gets the league’s attention.