The Cardinals’ “workplace culture” under owner Michael Bidwill came under scrutiny after former VP/Player Personnel Terry McDonough filed an arbitration complaint in April, and since then more than three dozen current and former Cardinals employees have described a workplace they found “abusive and intimidating in part due to a fear of the owner’s unpredictable tirades,” according to Thompson and Weinfuss of ESPN.com. Thompson and Weinfuss noted multiple examples, including one in 2019 when Bidwill “called a mandatory all-staff meeting to address the drunken-driving arrest of his right-hand man,” EVP & COO Ron Minegar. Sources said that Bidwill “unleashed a profanity-laced tirade at Minegar in front of everyone at the Tempe facility, along with workers who watched a video feed at State Farm Stadium.”
DIFFERENT RULES: In terms of his treatment of women at the facility, one former employee said that she “felt protected by Bidwill when she raised concerns about sexual harassment by an outside client,” but other sources said that Bidwill “presided over discriminatory treatment of female business staff through workplace practices designed to keep them separate from men on the football side.” One “major complaint” cited by women is that the team “prevented them from accessing the same benefits and areas of the facility.” Sources said that women in the Cardinals’ Tempe office have been “told to use different stairwells than men to avoid interacting with players,” and they were “kept from using common areas shared with the football staff.” A Cardinals spokesperson “denied the team has ever had policies about where people can go in the facility.”
CULTURE OF FEAR: The complaint also alleges that Bidwill “cursed at and berated a young African American employee in a racially charged manner,” and “such hostile conduct on the part of Bidwill created an environment of fear for minority employees.” Several former employees of color said that they “felt uncomfortable working for the team” and cited a “lack of diversity.” Thompson and Weinfuss note that at least four former Cardinals employees said that their “mental health was negatively affected by working for the team.” Some also said that they “had to seek treatment for depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress” after their employment. In a statement, Bidwill said that the Cardinals have “worked hard over the last several years to improve our culture across the board” (ESPN.com, 11/1).
The culture inside the Cardinals organization has come under scrutiny after a complaint was filed against the team and owner Michael BidwillGetty Images