BY OLIVIA JUST
Hearst Connecticut Media
Centerplate CEO Des Hague is facing potential legal and business repercussions after a video surfaced that showed Hague kicking and dragging a small dog in the elevator of a Vancouver, British Columbia, hotel.
The board of directors at Centerplate has placed Hague, a Stamford resident, on “indefinite probation,” and stipulated that “as a condition of his continued employment,” he will donate $100,000 of his personal funds to the Sade Foundation, a charity to be established in honor of Sade, the Doberman pinscher puppy that Hague mistreated. The foundation will be used to “support the protection and safety of animals in the city of Vancouver,” as outlined by Centerplate, and the company has pledged to contribute a portion of its sales to the Sade Foundation. Centerplate is also requiring Hague to serve 1,000 community service hours at an animal welfare and protection organization.
The Stamford-based catering company, which supplies food to sports and entertainment venues in the U.S. and Canada, issued a statement to repudiate Hague’s actions: “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 board stated that any “further acts of misconduct” from Hague would result in his prompt termination. The statement noted that Hague has expressed “sincere remorse and shame for erratic behavior that is uncharacteristic of him.”
Hearst Connecticut Media includes four daily newspapers: Connecticut Post, Greenwich Time, The Advocate (Stamford) and The News Times (Danbury.) See stamfordadvocate.com for more from this reporter.
They fined him pocket change and sent him on an extended paid vacation.
Even if you don’t care that this disgusting excuse of a human being harmed an innocent animal, lied in his so-called apology, and the animal has shown to have been abused in the past, how about just the stupidity, arrogance and ignorance of this company? What company would continue to utlizie someone like this as their CEO?