Denny's, in many ways did apologize. Mainly it apologized in actions that showed respect to minority groups and in a way took on a form of affirmative action. They boosted the number of minority managers and increased the number of minority franchise owners. Before the big discrimination cases there was only on African-American franchise owner, and this number was quickly boosted. In this case an apology, or certainly apologetic actions, are certainly helpful and necessary. The question of who makes the apology poses an interesting problem. As Denny's has many different franchise owners, it is somewhat difficult to control all of the employees or know which franchise dropped the ball. This is why Jerry Richardson, one of the main components that got Denny's to become such a succcessful business, took it upon himself to write a letter to the customers, make a contract for the employees, and ensure that this discrimination crisis died down.
His actions were very effective and now Denny's is seen in a more more positive light. Many people believe that Denny's has now buried its old image of being racist and has come to be one of the better companies on the basis of equality and fairness.
It certainly sounds that Denny's handled this situation well. I personally think the actions following an apology are even more important than the apology itself. Besides the monetary settlement, Denny's also incorporated minorities into the workplace which shows they are committed to change. I take it you are arguing that Denny's had an effective apology?
ReplyDeletei didnt even know dennys had had an issue like this. but it sounds like their apology was very effective, especially because they followed it up with actions of getting minorities into better positions within the company
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