You know you're an asshole when...

[kimmy]

The CEO of a multibillion dollar company called Centerplate was caught on video kicking and choking his Doberman puppy in an elevator in a Vancouver hotel.

http://blogs.vancouversun.com/2014/08/27/centerplate-ceo-put-on-probation-following-puppy-kicking-incident/

(uncensored video: http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=8d1_1409102156%C2'> )

Kicking puppies is something cartoon villains do to show the viewer what lowlifes they are. It's something you might expect from a trailer-park misanthrope or a toddler or somebody else who doesn't know any better.

Centerplate is a huge company that provides food services at many major sports venues, including BC Place. There is talk of a potential boycott of concessions at venues where Centerplate provides food services.

-k

[Guest]

Contemptible tosser!

Still, you have to like the company's reaction.

As a condition of his continued employment with Centerplate, Mr. Hague will personally donate $100,000.00 USD which will be donated towards the establishment of the Sade Foundation in honor of the dog he mistreated in the elevator to help support the protection and safety of animals in the city of Vancouver where the incident occurred.

Further, we are requiring Mr. Hague to serve 1000 hours of community service in support of an organization that serves to protect the welfare and safety of animals.

Centerplate in no way condones the mistreatment of animals, and as a strong sign of our conviction, we the company will also contribute a portion of our sales to the Sade Foundation. Additionally, we will open this foundation to all Centerplate employees and the general public who want to support and contribute in the hope that meaningful change can come out of this tragic situation.

With any luck the VPD will charge him too.

Edited August 29, 2014 by bcsapper

[Wilber]

I do like the company's reaction and would not be comfortable with its employees suffering for the actions of one dick head, even if he was the CEO. CEO's can be replaced like any other employee.

[TimG]

Who needs due process when we have internet lynch mob ready to hang em high.

[kimmy]

WAAAHHHH! We don't need a court of law to rule on whether he's a prick. He's already confessed to all we need to know to decide that for ourselves: that's him in the video kicking and choking his puppy. What else do you want to know? Maybe the dog was high on marijuana? Maybe the dog had just robbed a convenience store? Maybe the dog gave him an orbital blowout fracture during a fistfight moments before the video?

-k

[TimG]

He's already confessed to all we need to know to decide that for ourselves: that's him in the video kicking and choking his puppy.

Some of the people hung by lynch mobs were guilty too. That does not make the lynch mob a socially desirable way to dispense justice. Too often the innocent are persecuted as frequently as the guilty. Edited August 29, 2014 by TimG

[On Guard for Thee]

Some of the people hung by lynch mobs were guilty too. That does not make the lynch mob a socially desirable way to dispense justice. Too often the innocent are persecuted as frequently as the guilty.

Do you beat your dog?

[Guest]

Some of the people hung by lynch mobs were guilty too.

But weren't they really, actually lynched?

Edited August 29, 2014 by bcsapper

[TimG]

But weren't they really, actually lynched?

What difference does it make? It is not any more acceptable to get an innocent person fired from their job or punishing a company for actions of an employee that some yahoos on the internet decided was offensive. Edited August 29, 2014 by TimG

[Guest]

What difference does it make? It is not any more acceptable to get an innocent person fired from their job or punishing a company for actions of an employee that some idiot on the internet decided was offensive.

I can think of a huge difference. Really big one.

He wasn't fired, was he?

But still, how is thinking the guy is a gutless git the equivalent of lynching him? Or is it the boycott talk that you mean?

[kimmy]

What difference does it make? It is not any more acceptable to get an innocent person fired from their job or punishing a company for actions of an employee that some yahoos on the internet decided was offensive.

People can decide to stop buying $8.50 cups of beer and $6.50 hot-dogs for whatever reason they like. "It's too expensive", "I'm trying to lose weight", "I'm cutting back on alcohol," and "I think the CEO of this company is a piece of crap" are all equally valid reasons.

-k

[TimG]

People can decide to stop buying $8.50 cups of beer and $6.50 hot-dogs for whatever reason they like. "It's too expensive", "I'm trying to lose weight", "I'm cutting back on alcohol," and "I think the CEO of this company is a piece of crap" are all equally valid reasons.

Sure it is easy to justify in this case. But what if the political winds shifted and CEOs found their job in jeopardy because they said the supported abortion? Would you be so sanguine? It is easy to join a lynch mob when the mob is punishing someone you don't like for positions you don't share. But what happens when mob turns it sights on someone you don't think deserves it? Do you just accept the will of mob? Edited August 29, 2014 by TimG

[On Guard for Thee]

Sure it is easy to justify in this case. But what if the political winds shifted and CEOs found their job in jeopardy because they said the supported abortion? Would you be so sanguine? It is easy to join a lynch mob when the mob is punishing someone you don't like for positions you don't share. But what happens when mob turns it sights on someone you don't think deserves it? Do you just accept the will of mob?

Supporting abortion is an opinion. Beating a dog is just a sick action. Big differnce.

[kimmy]

Sure it is easy to justify in this case. But what if the political winds shifted and CEOs found their job in jeopardy because they said the supported abortion? Would you be so sanguine? It is easy to join a lynch mob when the mob is punishing someone you don't like for positions you don't share. But what happens when mob turns it sights on someone you don't think deserves it? Do you just accept the will of mob?

Well, Hobby Lobby (contraception) and Chick-Fil-A (gay rights) in the US have both been targets of boycotts because their owners have taken public positions that have nothing to do with selling yarn or chicken sandwiches. It's a peril of taking a public stand if you're in a business that depends on the good will of the public to make a living. The sword swings the other way too; Christian groups like American Family Association and One Million Moms have ongoing boycott campaigns against businesses for a variety of reasons ranging from offering employment benefits to gay employees to advertising during "offensive" programs. The "Moral Majority" types have been attempting this sort of tactic for longer than I've been alive. No matter what you do, or even if you do nothing at all, you'll probably offend somebody or other.

You can't please everybody.

But you can displease everybody. By kicking a puppy on video.

There's two important rules to remember when you're in a highly visible position.

1) Don't be an asshole.

2) If you can't help being an asshole, at least don't get caught red-handed being an asshole.

Mitt "47%" Romney forgot those two simple rules and it might have cost him the election. This "Des Hague" guy forgot the rules, and it cost him a chunk of change and might cost his company a bunch more.

-k

Edited August 29, 2014 by kimmy

[kimmy]

You know that Michael Hardner is MIA when...

...the title of this thread hasn't been changed to "Man Kicks Dog" yet.

-k

[Bonam]

It's interesting that companies punish their CEOs for kicking a puppy, but reward them for criminal negligence, fraud, mismanagement, human rights violations, etc. And the reaction on this board is of course also very predictable.

People get worked up about trivial issues while ignoring the big ones. Some asshole kicked a dog? Oh noes its the end of the world. Lynch him. Some asshole causes trillions of dollars of damage to the world economy? Give him a bonus.

[kimmy]

People get worked up about trivial issues while ignoring the big ones. Some asshole kicked a dog? Oh noes its the end of the world. Lynch him. Some asshole causes trillions of dollars of damage to the world economy? Give him a bonus.

It's the visceral vs the abstract. Even a little kid understands what kicking a puppy means. Not very many adults can understand packaging high-risk mortgages into mortgage-backed securities and making fraudulent claims about their contents and security.

If we did have some video footage of bankers approving the "robosigning" of subprime mortgages, it would probably cost them more than $100k and community service, though.

-k

[Bonam]

It's the visceral vs the abstract. Even a little kid understands what kicking a puppy means. Not very many adults can understand packaging high-risk mortgages into mortgage-backed securities and making fraudulent claims about their contents and security.

Oh I get what you're saying. And it's that very deficiency that I am lamenting.

Honestly $100k and 1000 hours for kicking a dog, an animal that people routinely hurt as part of they're "training" so they can better serve to amuse their future owners is dumb in my opinion.

Edited August 29, 2014 by Bonam

[dre]

What difference does it make? It is not any more acceptable to get an innocent person fired from their job or punishing a company for actions of an employee that some yahoos on the internet decided was offensive.

ROFLMAO!!!! Yeah! What difference does it make! People badmouthing you on the internet is just the same as if they dragged you behind a pickup truck on the way to the tree they were about to hang you dead from.

<facepalm/>

[Bonam]

ROFLMAO!!!! Yeah! What difference does it make! People badmouthing you on the internet is just the same as if they dragged you behind a pickup truck on the way to the tree they were about to hang you dead from.

I dunno. There's been a lot of recent hubbub about "cyber-bullying", that is, "people badmouthing you on the internet". Apparently it's enough of a problem to make governments try to implement new laws that significantly infringe on people's rights and privacy, with a significant portion of the public on side, a far stronger reaction than any government ever had to lynchings.

[On Guard for Thee]

Oh I get what you're saying. And it's that very deficiency that I am lamenting.

Honestly $100k and 1000 hours for kicking a dog, an animal that people routinely hurt as part of they're "training" so they can better serve to amuse their future owners is dumb in my opinion.

Who do you know that routinely hurts a dog?

[August1991]

The CEO of a multibillion dollar company called Centerplate was caught on video kicking and choking his Doberman puppy in an elevator in a Vancouver hotel.

http://blogs.vancouversun.com/2014/08/27/centerplate-ceo-put-on-probation-following-puppy-kicking-incident/

(uncensored video: )

Kicking puppies is something cartoon villains do to show the viewer what lowlifes they are. It's something you might expect from a trailer-park misanthrope or a toddler or somebody else who doesn't know any better.

Centerplate is a huge company that provides food services at many major sports venues, including BC Place. There is talk of a potential boycott of concessions at venues where Centerplate provides food services.

-k

This may seem like a dumb reply/question but where is the link to the video? I heard about this but I haven't seen the video to form my own opinion. (Kimmy, your OP doesn't help.)

----

Does anyone here eat chicken wings?

Edited August 29, 2014 by August1991

[Bonam]

Who do you know that routinely hurts a dog?

Pain is routinely applied to dogs as part of their training.

[dre]

It's interesting that companies punish their CEOs for kicking a puppy, but reward them for criminal negligence, fraud, mismanagement, human rights violations, etc. And the reaction on this board is of course also very predictable.

People get worked up about trivial issues while ignoring the big ones. Some asshole kicked a dog? Oh noes its the end of the world. Lynch him. Some asshole causes trillions of dollars of damage to the world economy? Give him a bonus.

This has nothing to do with punishing anyone for kicking a puppy. It has to do with an executive making a company look bad, and that companies last ditch attempt to salvage the employee with some kind of token gesture. My guess is the dog-beater came up with it himself.

Oh noes its the end of the world. Lynch him.

Lynch him? On what freakin planet do you live dude? Are you REALLY comparing the "slap on the wrist" sanction by a company of an executive whos core purpose is to convey the companies branch image to its customers with "lynching"?

[dre]

I dunno. There's been a lot of recent hubbub about "cyber-bullying", that is, "people badmouthing you on the internet". Apparently it's enough of a problem to make governments try to implement new laws that significantly infringe on people's rights and privacy, with a significant portion of the public on side, a far stronger reaction than any government ever had to lynchings.

Dude... this is about brand image. Do you HONESTLY not understand why a CEO caught on video beating an animal is not going to be a problem for the BOD of a company? Seriously?