Category Archives: Apologies

Apology is Better Without “Any”

March 7, 2020 – 4:38 pm

Public apologies are hard to do well. Just ask the leaders of the University of Michigan. With reports about sexual misconduct from a former sports doctor going public last week, U of M President Mark Schlissel issued an apology to “anyone” who was harmed by Dr. Anderson, according to a Detroit News report. What if […]

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Baseball Players Apologize

February 13, 2020 – 4:51 pm

Several Major League baseball players apologized today for what’s been called the “sign-stealing scandal.” Members of the Houston Astros team were caught impermissibly intercepting signals exchanged between members of their opposing teams. But you wouldn’t know that from their vague apologies. None of them specifically explain what they did that was wrong, or for what […]

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Endorsing Apologies in Mediation

August 23, 2019 – 4:33 pm

This article notes the risks of apologies but also that they can be handled deftly in mediation. It’s well worth a read.

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Countries Can Apologize Too

March 29, 2019 – 8:09 am

Countries can apologize too. PRI’s The World did a story last night on what might be called “the national apology,” when a government apologizes. Australia has had a “Sorry Day,” May 26, for twenty years, to express its regret for mistreatment of Aboriginal people. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has made several apologies, including just […]

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Over-Using “Sorry”

March 21, 2019 – 10:44 am

It’s helpful to explore the appropriate time to use the word “sorry.” In general, we don’t use it enough, in the sense that we are typically too slow to acknowledge responsibility for the harms we cause others. But “sorry” can be mis-used, and over-used. I blogged about this in December, citing an article noting that […]

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