Comments on: Sad news and Bad reactions

By: Jake McKee

Jake McKee — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 07:20:46 +0000

Welcome to the site, J.C.! I hope you comment more

OK, to your points…. I would harbor a guess that there was very little “vetting” from anything other than a “don't get us sued” standpoint. That may be protectionism, but it's not good business. You can absolutely show empathy/sorrow/emotion/humanness without there being a legal recourse.

I'd actually even go further to say that in one of the most lawsuit scary industries, medicine, an apology actually helps REDUCE lawsuits more often than not.

By: Angela Connor

Angela Connor — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 20:50:15 +0000

Jake: They're probably too worried about liability to allow even an ounce of compassion to come through. It sounds like a canned response and I too hope that it is incomplete. They should know that all eyes are on them and this is no time to care more about yourself than a family that has lost a loved one.

By: J.C. Hutchins

J.C. Hutchins — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 15:56:38 +0000

Hey Jake — longtime reader, first-time poster. You're right — from a humanitarian and emotional perspective, it was a bad call on the company's part. However, I'm willing to bet the response was carefully vetted by numerous execs and lawyers.

In that world, an apology — or even a mention of sympathy — is often perceived as an acceptance of liability. It's an absolute shame: both the youngster's death, and the mishandling of the company's response.