The rollout didn't help...
The policy and even the announcement weren't unreasonable, but there was no winning when they just announced the policy out of the blue.
_why_didn't_they_ask_first_?
A simple temperature check of the room would have saved them a ton of humiliation, lost staff, and brand image damage. Work-shopping a policy might have arrived at one that the staff could live with, and the Internet would mock less. Other posters nailed the problem on the head when termed the decision autocratic.