DORI MONSON

Seattle Mariners should not do business with Centerplate if Desmond Hague remains CEO

Aug 28, 2014, 11:25 AM | Updated: 12:49 pm

Taken from The Dori Monson Show.

I am fired up over this story of the CEO who runs the company that does the food service at Safeco Field for the Mariners.

The company is called Centerplate. The Mariners are one of many teams that use this company. They also do the catering at the Everett Event Center and at a venue in Yakima.

In a video released this week, Desmond Hague, CEO of Centerplate Inc., is allegedly seen in the elevator at the Private Residences at Hotel Georgia in July repeatedly kicking a small Doberman Pinscher. The man also picks the dog up by the leash.

On Wednesday, Centerplate issued a statement about its CEO’s behavior.

“We pride ourselves as individuals and as a company on how we treat others-both humans and animals. The company finds Mr. Hague’s personal behavior unacceptable and outside the bounds of our high standards and expectations of all of our staff. We do not condone nor can we overlook the mistreatment of animals and Mr. Hague’s personal misconduct,” the statement begins.

They then elaborated on how Hague will make up for this incident:

“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 1,000 hours of community service in support of an organization that serves to protect the welfare and safety of animals.”

Is that enough? I say absolutely not. I don’t think this guy deserves a second chance because he revealed that he’s a bad guy in that video.

Now, none of this reflects on the Seattle Mariners. The Mariners have been a great dog-friendly organization. They have a take your dog to the ballpark night. They announced this week that they’re going to put out trading cards that feature the K-9s that are part of the security detail at Safeco. They’re a very dog-friendly organization.

The team also released a statement on Thursday saying they would be making a significant donation to the Humane Society:

The Seattle Mariners will donate a portion of the proceeds from all concessions sales at Safeco Field during the month of September to the Humane Society for Seattle/King County.

The donation is in response to an animal cruelty incident involving Des Hague, the CEO of Centerplate, the corporation that handles concessions operations at Safeco Field and hundreds of other venues in the United States and around the world.

“The Mariners deplore animal cruelty, and as the owner of two dogs, I was personally offended by what he did. In support of all those who are outraged at his behavior, we are pledging a portion of the proceeds from the sales at Safeco Field concession stands during games in September to the Humane Society for Seattle/King County in the hope that something positive can come of this incident,” said Kevin Mather, Mariners President and COO. […]

“Mr. Hague is taking personal responsibility for his actions and is beginning to make amends for his behavior. As offensive as his actions were, we think it is important to make a distinction between what one individual did and the hundreds of dedicated Centerplate employees who serve our fans at Safeco Field,” said Mather.

I’ll partly agree with that statement. Hague’s actions don’t reflect on his company’s employees. But his continued employment at Centerplate reflects on his company. That’s why I think the Mariners have to part ways with this company by next season.

There is a month left in the season. I don’t expect them to sever ties with their catering and food service provider with a month left in the season. But in my view, in 2015, the Seattle Mariners should not do business with Centerplate if Desmond Hague remains the CEO.

I don’t care if he’s making a $100,000 donation. I don’t care if he’s doing 1,000 hours of community service. The Mariners have branded themselves with a lot of diligence and a lot of conscientious actions as a great dog-friendly organization. I don’t think they should do business with a company that has an alleged dog abuser as its CEO.

Taken from Thursday’s edition of The Dori Monson Show.

JS

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Seattle Mariners should not do business with Centerplate if Desmond Hague remains CEO