How to influence someone as an instructor?

A couple of months ago, while I was sitting in on a class, the instructor was asked a question that had already been asked. The instructor made a comment toward the student that I felt was particularly unprofessional and I could tell the students were a bit shocked. A few minutes after that event, we took a break and the instructor left the room to make a phone call. I noticed that the student was a shocked but more importantly, his co-worker was mad. Realizing that something was about to happen, I approached both of them and told them if they thought that particular comment was out of place, I agree and I promised to remedy the situation. I explained that the people in our office had gone through a tragic event, recently and that I don’t think he meant it the way it sounded. I also had heard other instructors for whom he had mentored, make the same mistake. Seeing that we had a culture issue and not just a problem with one individual instructor, I realized I needed to talk to Human Resources but our H.R. representative was brand new and I felt she was probably not seasoned enough to understand the situation. I contacted the manager of our H.R. department and asked if I could confide in her something for which I felt was a problem in  my department. She agreed and I shared with her the situation and how it had happened repeatedly and with multiple instructors. Before I go any further, I should add that two of our instructors had lost their wives recently and suddenly. Both with heart attacks. We have an additional instructor whose wife is not doing well with her breast cancer issues. I felt that maybe part of our cultural issue was due to the shake-ups we had dealt with recently. Thankfully, our H.R. manager has good insight. She contacted me and said she would take care of it appropriately. No names were given and she understood the extenuating circumstances. A few weeks ago, during a staff meeting, our Vice President walked in and asked if he could talk to us. He shared with us that we had a good year, sales were up and that he wanted us to keep up the great work and then at the end, mentioned that there was a concern about a complaint that some less-than-positive comments were made toward a student. He did not mention names and he did not address anything specific but instead, shared with us that we needed to move past those thoughts and remember that our customers are our guests and in many cases, will be the decision-makers in the future. I could not have been happier with the way in which our management had handled the situation. Had I actually pinpointed the actual comments and the actual instructors, it could have become a situation where H.R. would have to take punitive action with each specific instructor. Several of our instructors are close to retirement and while I don’t agree with their sometimes gruff and grumpy attitudes, I realize that life is difficult as you get older. I assured the students that I would take care of it and I am thankful that they trusted me. The situation has been remedied and we no longer have those issues. The very fact that I have this job was from heavy influence by my manager. I had contacted him a couple of years ago about an unrelated issue and he recognized me from when I was a TV news anchor. He invited me down for a tour and talk. During that talk, he offered to hire me but suggested I spend a full year at my then current position. I agreed. While I did take a pay cut, he was right. Teaching students in a social environment was a much better fit for me than working alone in a test lab. He saw benefits in my character that benefitted him in his need for engaging instructors. He also addressed my concern regarding my lack of specific knowledge on some parts of our hardware.