Working in an NFL franchise must be a dream for many people, but after some troubling allegations have surfaced in recent years about the ‘toxic’ working conditions that day-to-day employees must endure, that dream became a nightmare to many, with the Arizona Cardinals becoming the latest one.
Recent reports have surfaced, accusing Cardinals owner, Michael Bidwill, of fomenting and fostering a ‘toxic workplace culture’, inducing fear into employees of the franchise, micromanaging, and involving himself in minor daily tasks that didn’t require him.
The allegations
According to Kyle Kahler of The Athletic, more than a dozen current and former employees of the Cardinals organization spoke about the abuses endured, most of them perpetuated by Bidwill himself, in which workers felt that ‘they were walking in eggshells’ all the time trying not to enrage the owner, who often found himself yelling at employees.
Per Kahler, an employee survey was conducted in 2019, where Bidwill was ‘torn to shreds’ by his own workers, but the ownership went ‘radio silent’ after it, not releasing the results to the employees, with no major improvements to working conditions or culture in the immediate future.
The Cardinals respond
The team’s ownership sent a statement to The Athletic saying that, even though the initial results of the survey weren’t released, they took the employee’s input into account in trying to better the working environment.
Bidwill himself stated that ‘he has room to grow’ and was working towards becoming a better leader and owner for the team.
