January 14, 2025

DIVERSITY, EQUITY AND INCLUSION — CITY OF BROTHERLY LOVE STYLE: Internet sleuths tracked down repulsive Eagles fan — and his life at DEI-focused company might be ruined.

A viral and revolting incident in the stands at an NFL playoff game on Sunday has already earned one football fan a lifetime ban from Lincoln Financial Field — and it may cost him even more.

The fan, identified as Ryan Caldwell, was captured on video heckling a female Packers fan — and repeatedly calling her a “dumb c–t” — while her fiancé, Alexander Basara, filmed the entire altercation in the stands during Sunday’s Wild Card game in Philly, an Eagles win over the Packers.

Caldwell has been banned from all future events at Lincoln Financial Field, a source with knowledge of the situation confirmed to The Post, and his employer, BCT Partners — a DEI-focused management consulting firm based in East Brunswick, N.J. — is involved.

“The management at BCT Partners has been made aware of a video circulating involving an employee making offensive remarks outside of the workplace,” the company said in a statement released Monday on X, without naming the employee. “BCT Partners denounces this type of behavior, and we take this matter extremely seriously. As an organization that has always stood for inclusivity, the conduct displayed was completely unacceptable and stands in direct opposition to our company values.

“We have already begun a full investigation as an internal personnel matter to determine what actions will be taken. We sincerely apologize to everyone affected by this behavior and remain committed to fostering a culture of respect for all.”

BCT Partners aims “to harness the power of diversity, insights, and innovation to transform lives, accelerate equity, and create lasting change,” according to its website.

Here’s the aforementioned video. Language alert, needless to say:

And speaking of “language alert,” “Caldwell’s profile, describing him as a business analyst, uses ‘they/them’ pronouns to detail his roles in hospitality management dating back to 2002.”

Jerry Thorton of Barstool Sports writes that he doesn’t “want to see Caldwell lose his job. If you’re going to be against seeing people get canceled for exercising their right to free speech, you have to be consistent. But …”

There might be some jobs you can still do perfectly well after you’ve called some a woman minding her own business “an ugly, dumb, c*nt” for the crime of rooting for the visiting team. But most definitely, hospitality management is not one of them.

I mean, try to picture BCT Partners getting hired to “accelerate equity and create lasting change” with ol’ Ryan still on the payroll. Their sales person meets with the HR manager of some potential client company who has to decide whether to hire them for $100,000 to conduct DEI seminars.

HR manager: “BCT. Say, aren’t you the firm that employs Ryan Caldwell? He’s the one who called that Packers fan a ‘an ugly, dumb c*n,’ isn’t he?”

Sales person: “Excuse me, you mean, ‘Isn’t they the one who called that Packers fan an ugly, dumb c*nt’? That’s exactly the kind of binary cisgender, heteronormative language we’re going to work with you to eliminate from the workplace …”

After all, you don’t want your prospective clients to think the work you do is just a big, expensive grift and you’re really all a bunch of abusive assholes away from the office. That would be bad for business.

But even with Caldwell’s perfect example of how not to stand for inclusivity of Green Bay fans or foster a culture of respect for people wearing the visiting team’s gear, keeping him on the payroll is going to be a tough sell.

Going forward, I wonder if ubiquitous smartphones and social media will be a better deterrent for the worst behavior at Eagles home games than their once-infamous in-stadium judge and jail was.

UPDATE: Eagles fan who hurled vulgar insults at Packers supporters fired from DEI-focused consulting job.

Posted at 8:30 pm by Ed Driscoll