Did ESPN get Britt McHenry's suspension wrong?

ESPN reacted swiftly Thursday when a surveillance video of reporter Britt McHenry berating a tow-truck company employee went viral.

But was the one-week suspension enough? Or was it just a slap on the wrist?

Chris Chase, a writer for For The Win, thinks ESPN got it wrong.

"While Bill Simmons gets a three-week suspension for calling out his bosses and Tony Kornheiser is set aside for two weeks for commenting on Hannah Storm's skirt, McHenry is shelved for just seven days," Chase wrote. "It's a misguided system of justice: ESPN considers ESPN-on-ESPN smack-talk to be worse than ESPN sneering at the rest of the world. It's a joke."

In case you missed it, McHenry's car was towed from a parking lot in Arlington, Va., a few weeks ago, prompting McHenry to lash out at a tow-truck company employee, pointing out she was "on television" and would sue the company. Many of McHenry's worst comments came even after she knew she was on camera.

Some of the safe-for-work quotes from the edited tape included: "That's why I have a degree and you don't." "I wouldn't work at a scumbag place like this." "Maybe if I was missing some teeth, they would hire me, huh?" "Lose some weight, baby girl."

Warning: The video below contains explicit language.

ESPN wouldn't comment on whether McHenry's suspension was paid or unpaid. Either way, the video unleashed a swarm of criticism at McHenry and ESPN. Some even created a petition to get McHenry fired, with 1,630 supporters as of this afternoon.

Others are defending McHenry, however, saying they understand the frustration of dealing with a towing company, especially the one McHenry dealt with: Advanced Towing in Arlington, Va., which has an F rating from the Better Business Bureau and a plethora of negative reviews on Yelp.

(But, really, who goes on Yelp to compliment a towing company?)

But back to McHenry: She did apologize after the video surfaced, posting on Twitter: "In an intense and stressful moment, I allowed my emotions to get the best of me and said some insulting and regrettable things. As frustrated as I was, I should always choose to be respectful and take the high road. I am so sorry for my actions and will learn from this mistake."

But was it just frustration? And was the apology sincere? Chase calls it all "phony."

"This isn't someone having a bad day," Chase wrote. "This isn't someone frustrated by an employee at a tow-truck operator. We've all been there and (hopefully) didn't denigrate the man or woman responsible for not having a degree, nor rip on a cashier for simply doing her job. A bad day is cursing at someone or driving away from that booth and quickly flipping the bird. Those are the sort of slip-ups that make us human. What McHenry did is an attitude based on power and entitlement."

The Washington Post's Michael Bayer argues we can't rush to judge McHenry.

"Pope Francis tirelessly denounces a 'throwaway culture,' and this right here, is it: Dismissing another person as disposable because they perform a 'menial job,' for an hourly wage," Bayer writes. "Our challenge is to ask ourselves how we each support or perpetuate such detestable dynamics.

"Let's take this moment to acknowledge that we're all a bit complicit and work to combat these ugly attitudes within ourselves, before rushing to judge others."

Contact Brian Manzullo: bmanzullo@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter at @BrianManzullo.