Flunking Crisis Management 101

I've mentioned here that I sometimes used to work in corporate contingency planning, both as a planner and part of a crisis response. A regional utility that I worked for at the time had a near-catastrophe when it failed to recognize that the 1994 Northridge earthquake had severely damaged its facilities. I was one of the people pulled off a desk job to carry a wrench and give the impression of restoring service, a last-minute move by the company that saved its reputation. So I have some experience in how these things ought to be done.

So far, both Budweiser and Target have earned at least D grades in crisis management, but I think in those cases, there are mitigating factors where the public mood over transsexualism has been changing quickly, and other factors like failing national leadership are also coming into play. The one company so far that's earning a complete F is the Los Angeles Dodgers. In fact, my undergraduate institution had a grade beyond F called "flagrant neglect", which may well apply to the Dodgers here. It was informally called a "flag", and it was sometimes issued. I never got a flag, but a roommate did. No matter, he went on to work for a whole career as a reporter at the New York Times.

Let's just take a 30,000 foot view of the Dodgers' performance over the past two weeks, which warrants not just an F but a flag. It managed to take a potential net positive -- after listening to a reasonable explanation of why the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence could be offensive to a large segment of its fan base, including Latins, other Catholics, and other Christians -- it elected to disinvite them from its Pride Night, itself a questionable event. If, as Budweiser also neglected to do, it had given a moment's thought to its customer base, this wouldn't have happened in the first place.

Then, after angry responses from LGBTQ+ groups and behind-the-scenes pressure from local leftist politicians and the local teachers' union, they wussed out, rescinded their disinvite, and even issued a formal apology to the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence:

After much thoughtful feedback from our diverse communities, honest conversations within the Los Angeles Dodgers organization and generous discussions with the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, the Los Angeles Dodgers would like to offer our sincerest apologies to the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, members of the LGBTQ+ community and their friends and families.

Not only did this put Dodgers management in a position of looking weak, indecisive, and unprincipled, but it managed to do something that no athletic team, and not even a Hollywood studio, had managed to do in over 60 years, get crosswise with the Catholic Church. So far, the Roman Catholic Archdioseses of Los Angeles and San Francisco, as well as the Diocese of Orange, have opposed the Dodgers' move. The Diocese of Orange's opposition is especially important, because when the Dodgers originally disinvited the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, the Angels, which call themselves a Los Angeles team although they play in Anaheim in Orange County, appeared to offer to host the "sisters" at its own pride night.

Anaheim Mayor Ashleigh Aitken tweeted Saturday that she was among those upset by the Dodgers’ decision and invited the Sisters to the Angels’ Pride Night on June 7.

“Pride should be inclusive and like many, I was disappointed in the Dodgers decision,” she posted on Twitter, using the hashtag #CityofKindness.

As the LA Times commented, this position wasn't exactly clear, and it looks as though the mayor belatedly realized she'd stepped in it:

It wasn’t immediately clear if she issued an official invitation to the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence beyond the tweet or if the group would be honored in any way at Angels’ Pride Night. A spokesperson for Aitken declined to answer questions, saying there were no updates available.

The Sisters also didn’t immediately respond to questions about the Angels’ invitation Monday. A spokesperson for the Angels declined to comment.

Clearly the Angels know they're opening themselves to an equivalent backlash if they follow through on the offer, and remarks by the Bishop of Orange have them on notice.

Statement re: Mayor of Anaheim's invitation to Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence as her special guest to Angels Pride Night: pic.twitter.com/VdczRGF5G3

— Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange (@OrangeDiocese) May 22, 2023

By late yesterday, there were signs that the Dodgers were slowly beginning to realize that, rather than averting a corporate crisis, they'd made things much worse for themselves. Naturally, their reponse was timid and utterly inadequate:

Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw announced on Friday the team would relaunch its Christian Faith and Family Day, just days after the organization re-invited the radical anti-Christian transgender group, the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, to its tenth annual Pride Night event.

. . . In the replies to Kershaw’s tweet announcing Christian Faith and Family Day, social media users called on Kershaw, a vocal Christian, to denounce the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence and his team’s decision to re-invite them to Pride Night.

“Glad this is coming back but you gotta speak out against @SFSisters openly mocking Christ,” one user replied. “This Christian event, which has no involvement prior to the game or during, will not fix the wrongs your team has done.”

Bp Barron himself responded,

Not enough, @Dodgers. If you really want to reach out to Christians, don’t celebrate anti-Christian hate groups. https://t.co/Ne7RNWr2DF

— Bishop Robert Barron (@BishopBarron) May 26, 2023

Here's the kind of basic advice you get in Crisis Management 101, for instance:

If your company is in the wrong, admit it as soon as possible. The public is much more forgiving if a company accepts responsibility for its actions early on rather than if a company backtracks down the road or gets caught trying to cover up a mistake. Equally as important, do not make definitive statements without having all of the information, but don’t let that prevent you from communicating.

. . . In a time of crisis, keeping messaging consistent is critical – this includes consistency in who is delivering the messaging. The entire communications team and stakeholders should not deliver comments to anyone unless explicitly specified. All inquiries should be directed to the approved spokesperson.

. . . Immediately addressing the problem and presenting a solution during a crisis is a great idea, but the company must ensure that the messaging is consistent and actionable. Presenting a solution that will never see the light of day isn’t helpful to anyone and media can see through the insincere response. Be sure to update the press with transparent and attainable messaging.

So, how have the Dodgers been handling this? They've been waffling. First, they disinvited the "sisters", although it was a bad decision to have invited them in the first place. Then they un-disinvited them and apologized for disinviting them. This means that their only choices now are refusing to un-disinvite them or re-disinvite them, neither of which will convey the impression that they're addressing the problem. This means that at this point, they can't convey a consistent and actionable message, since they've created the impression that any apology they issue will just be rescinded with a counter-apology a few days later.

Not only that, but nobody from Dodgers management is responding, they're just trotting out a player to say he's excited about a Christian day. This violates the rule that there needs to be a single, approved spokesman who delivers a transparent message.

The moment I saw the apology to the "sisters" on Monday, even before Bp Barron announced the boycott on Thursday, I realized the Dodgers CEO will have to be fired, and even then, the team owners will have to do a real scramble to preserve the brand. As of now, especially given Bp Barron's immediate tweet responding to the half-hearted announcement of a Christian night of some sort, I'm getting the impression that Bp Barron is consulting and coordinating with Mr Burch and other Catholic laity. As I noted yesterday, here is Mr Burch's position:

Here are my terms: 1) We get a complete public apology from the Dodgers, 2) the Dodgers pledge never to host or honor an anti-Catholic hate group again, 3) the people responsible for this stunt are fired, and 4) The Dodgers agree to make a gift from their foundation to a group of religious sisters that perform real charity.

I get the impression that Bp Barron is on board with this, though he is letting Mr Burch be the lead. When the dust settles, the Dodgers CEO will almost certainly have been fired, and there may well be a realignment in the team's ownership.