Duke Reaches Financial Settlement with Lacrosse Players
Let me get this straight: lacrosse players toss a party, ante up to purchase the services of two African American strippers, things get out of hand, rape charges are filed by one of the dancers, three players are suspended by Duke officials who then fire the lacrosse coach and halt the season. Ah, justice served before the facts are known.
Meanwhile, an overzealous Durham, NC district attorney tramples on torts 101 while capitalizing on his 15 minutes of fame. He is relieved of his duties, charges are filed by the state Bar association, he is found guilty and then disbarred.
What more do we need to know?
As the dust settles, Duke is finally exonerated, they want you to believe, until this: within 72 hours of District Attorney Mike Nifong being disbarred and mere hours after one of the three suspended lacrosse players – who has transferred to Brown University – appeared on the Today Show, Duke announces they have reached an undisclosed financial settlement with the three players.
Keystone cops have invaded a wonderful private university.
My angst stems from a recent telephone call from a senior Duke administrator three weeks ago who wanted to take me to task for my comments in the media second guessing their crisis strategy. The administrator, who will remain nameless, wanted to debate Duke’s wonderful handling of the controversy that drew horribly negative headlines internationally. I refused to engage in the debate and stuck by my comments which ran in major newspapers and on ESPN, stunned at how blind Duke brass can be to the obvious.
To pay off the players likely makes good sense. Routinely such settlements have gag clauses that mandate neither side can further discuss the issue publicly. Toss dollar signs at the players, coupled with Nifong’s disbarment and this may well put an end to this sordid story.
But at what price? Duke’s buyout of the players affirms what the rest of us have known for months: their actions in times of crisis are a textbook example of what not to do. And the Duke brand, rarely sullied in its proud past, is tarnished badly due to inept crisis communications.