Cardinals owner Michael Bidwill exhibited 'sexist,' 'racially charged' behavior, former employees say
A complaint against Arizona Cardinals owner Michael Bidwill filed in April that alleges sexist and racist behavior has come to light.
Terry McDonough, the team's former vice president of player personnel, filed the complaint this year, stating that the owner and team showed "gross misconduct, including discrimination and harassment, among other allegations," according to ESPN.
The complaint says Bidwill berated employees in public and caused some former employees to seek treatment for their mental health, depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress after working for the team.
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McDonough says Bidwill ripped into a Black employee "in a racially charged manner." The Cardinals are one of the teams against which Brian Flores and Steve Wilks, the latter of whom was fired after one season as the team's head coach, have filed a class-action lawsuit that alleges hiring discrimination.
Despite the claim in the complaint, several of Bidwill's former employees shut down that notion.
Former human resources chief Lisa Lutich told ESPN that she "did not see any racism" from Bidwill, and former executive vice president and COO Ron Minegar said Bidwill does not have "a racist bone in his body." Minegar, however, did draft a letter to Bidwill in which he stated that the owner's "negativity sucks the life out of the entire process and erodes our collective resolve to work our asses off for you and this franchise."
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Bidwill allegedly brought two pregnant women to tears "as a result of his abusive and bullying mistreatment." He also is said to have told women to use separate staircases to avoid interacting with players, and he "presided over discriminatory treatment of female business staff through workplace practices designed to keep them separate from men on the football side."
The complaint's allegations are "outlandish" and that they have "worked hard over the last several years to improve our culture across the board," the Cardinals said, per ESPN.
"We have more to do and, as I have said to every member of the Cardinals organization, that includes my own work to grow and improve as a leader," Bidwill said in a statement.
Bidwill took over control of the team when his father, Bill, died in 2019. The Bidwills have owned the team for three generations.