Some CEOs are woefully unprepared for the effect that their words may have once they spread through the media. Recently, the head of AOL, Tim Armstrong, made some comments he now deeply regrets regarding the health insurance plan at his company.
The now infamous statements were made during a recent presentation and centered around his company's approach to employee benefits. They specifically made reference to $2 million spent on the care of a pair of "distressed babies," inciting the ire of many, including one of the mothers involved in this case, Deanna Fei.
These pregnancies were used as examples of why so much of the brunt of health insurance payments are put on employees. Fei has spoken out to news sources to make her opinion known, and also wrote a lengthy Slate essay addressing the "corporate cost cutting" that unfairly targeted her and her husband, who works for a subsidiary of AOL.
However, Armstrong has now officially apologized and also announced that AOL will continue matching coverage for each session like it did before, according to the Washington Post. The Post also featured the full text of Armstrong's apology statement.
"I made a mistake and I apologize for my comments last week at the town hall when I mentioned specific healthcare examples in trying to explain our decision making process around our employee benefit programs," he said.
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