BY OLIVIA JUST
Hearst Connecticut Media
Des Hague has resigned from his post at the helm of Centerplate after facing public outrage and potential legal action over his abuse of a dog placed in his care.
Stamford-based Centerplate has appointed Chris Verros as acting president and CEO, effective immediately. The leadership change was announced Sept. 2.
The video that surfaced in August showing Hague kicking a dog in a Vancouver hotel has cost the Stamford resident his job as CEO.
“We want to reiterate that we do not condone nor would we ever overlook the abuse of animals,” Joe O”™Donnell, chairman of the board for Centerplate, said in a statement. “Following an extended review of the incident involving Mr. Hague, I”™d like to apologize for the distress that this situation has caused to so many; but also thank our employees, clients and guests who expressed their feelings about this incident. Their voices helped us to frame our deliberations during this very unusual and unfortunate set of circumstances.”
Verros, Hague”™s replacement, previously served as Centerplate”™s chief operating officer.
Since the video of Hague mistreating a Doberman pinscher puppy in a hotel elevator in Vancouver was made public last week, Centerplate has sought to distance itself from the behavior of its former CEO.
On Aug. 27, the company placed Hague on “indefinite probation” and released a statement condemning his actions and requiring a $100,000 donation from his personal finances to establish the Sade Foundation in honor of the dog he mistreated. Hague is also set to serve 1,000 hours of community service at an animal welfare organization and may face potential criminal charges and fines in Canada.
Centerplate provides food services to sports venues around the country, including the Webster Bank Arena in Bridgeport, which declined to comment on Hague”™s resignation. Following the video”™s release, sports fans expressed their displeasure with Hague”™s actions through social media, while protestors in Canada took to the streets last week to urge Canadian sports teams to end their association with Centerplate. In the U.S., the company has contracts with teams in the NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB and Major League Soccer.
Centerplate”™s swift distancing from Hague was a shrewd public relations move, said Andrea Obston, president of Andrea Obston Marketing Communications. Obston teaches public relations at Quinnipiac University and watches the disaster recovery strategies of companies like Centerplate closely, she said.
“They took a very assertive and aggressive stance against the issue,” Obston said. “It”™s very good for your reputation. It”™s a matter of making good on a declaration and then you move on.”
It is easier for a company to move past a crisis with its leadership when the executive”™s misconduct is personal and unconnected to the way the company has functioned, Obston said. It will be harder for Hague to rehabilitate his public standing.
“He personally needs to make assertive efforts toward realizing that what he did was wrong and demonstrate it,” Obston said. “He”™s going to be a hard, hard guy to employ over the next few years because no one wants to inherit that negative baggage.”
Hague became head of Centerplate in 2009, when the then-public company was purchased by private equity firm Kohlberg & Co. and went private.
Centerplate is now owned by Olympus Partners.
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.
