Susan Rogers, of the Mental Health Association of Southeastern Pennsylvania, wants to make sure everyone understands that PR Newswire was immediately responsive after being made aware of the use of "loony-bin-rally" in a slug line.
In an e-mail, Rogers says:
Besides issuing the apology and re-running the press release, they are not charging us the $295 that the press release would normally have cost to send out. They also said they would consider our recommendation that they develop policies spelling out acceptable language and to possibly institute staff sensitivity training and education around mental health issues, which I said we would be happy to help with. So they have done everything they could to make up for the actions of the fired staffer.
Rogers said PR Newswire told Mental Health Association officials that the business provides "extensive training on appropriate workplace standards." She said that they circulate an in-house newsletter that deals with "a wide range of health issues, including mental health."
The association has worked with the press release delivery service for "many years, and this is the first time anything like this has happened," Rogers said.
