Before the Arizona Cardinals face the Los Angeles Rams this Sunday, there is even more drama surrounding them after star James Conner was placed on injured reserve.
In an article by Kayln Kahler of The Athletic, it has come out that current and former employees of the Cardinals stated the work environment inside the franchise can be labeled as them “working in fear” under owner Michael Bidwill.
In 2019, Bidwell was informed by former COO Ron Minegar that “a majority” of Cardinals employees were “working in fear” as a result of the hostile work environment he had fostered.
According to reports, Bidwill was a micromanager who shouted at colleagues for what seemed like small infractions, cultivating a workplace environment where many felt like they were “walking on eggshells.”
“You would think being an entertainment sports team that it would be a fun place to work. No, not at all,” one employee said.
The report details an employment survey that was handed out in 2019 and later “disappeared into thin air,” because it painted Bidwill in such an unfavorable light. Kahler said that a few “tore Bidwill into shreds.”
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There was no talk about the surveys again as time passed and it forced some staffers to believe that their feelings and opinions didn’t matter.
According to reports, Bidwill got engaged in trivial day-to-day duties, yelled at a worker for turning off the fluorescent lights in the workplace in favor of softer light, and complained about the area code on a worker’s cell phone.
“People just didn’t say anything. They complain under their breath, and they go into their car at lunch and they cry,” an employee said.
There was a female staffer who was yelled at, not because of doing something wrong, but because Bidwill thought she was walking too slowly.
To make matters worse, the hallway on the second level of the Cardinals headquarters with Bidwill’s office in it was known as a “tip-toe zone.” Staffers didn’t know if Bidwill would be in a good mood or not each day, so they tried to avoid that area at all costs.
There has been no comment from the Cardinals organization or Bidwill on the developments, at the time of reporting.
