Founders Brewing settles racial discrimination lawsuit with former employee

[Eugene]

Source: NBC News

Founders Brewing settles racial discrimination lawsuit with former employee

The Michigan company announced in a statement Thursday that the 2018 suit was dismissed after the two parties came to an agreement under undisclosed terms.

Oct. 31, 2019, 8:06 PM EDT
By Doha Madani

Founders Brewing Company settled a lawsuit with a former employee who claimed he was called the N-word by co-workers, denied a promotion because of his race and ultimately fired when he told a manager he was going to human resources.

The Grand Rapids, Michigan, company announced in a statement Thursday that the suit filed by Tracy Evans was dismissed after the two parties came to an agreement under undisclosed terms. Evans claimed in his 2018 lawsuit that he was subjected to a "racist work environment" during the four years he was employed by the Founders.

Mike Stevens and Dave Engbers, who co-founded the brewery, said that during the process, the company "listened, engaged in self-discovery, and reached common ground to make amends."

"We agreed that nobody be viewed at fault here," the men said. "Most importantly, this serves as an opportunity to place our full attention on the work we now have to do, as a company of more than 600 dedicated team members, to rebuild our relationships."

Founders said in their statement Thursday that it abhors discriminatory action of any type and is committed to moving issues of diversity and inclusion forward at the brewery.

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Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/nbcblk/founders-brewing-settles-racial-discrimination-lawsuit-former-employee-n1074956

[lunasun]

1. Some back fill

For months, the beer industry has kept its collective eye on the lawsuit brought by a former employee of Founders Brewing Co., America’s 14th-largest craft brewery, located in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The suit, filed last August by former employee Tracy Evans, alleges a company culture of racism and discrimination, and claims that Evans, who is Black, was wrongfully terminated as he sought to bring a complaint to the company’s human resources department. Founders has repeatedly denied the claims and defended its corporate culture.

In January, Founders hired a diversity and inclusion director, Graci Harkema. But over the weekend, Harkema resigned from her position and posted a statement to social media in which she accuses the company’s leadership of only being “concerned with winning the lawsuit.”

“In every conversation and with every action, you’ve been most concerned with winning the lawsuit,” Harkema states. “You are most concerned with the ego of ‘winning’ than you are about the loss of customers, loss of reputation, and loss of employees’ well being.”

The fallout was swift. Founders was criticized on social media, which is perhaps to be expected, but it was also forced to close its Detroit taproom indefinitely over concerns for employee safety stemming from the lawsuit. Per the Detroit Free Press, Founders says it hopes to reopen the taproom in the future. Some Michigan bars and retail shops have also reportedly stopped selling Founders beer in the wake of the ongoing lawsuit.
https://thetakeout.com/founders-brewing-lawsuit-1839414887

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2. Oh, come on. "Nobody's" at fault? How about the assholes using the n-word?

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know it's legalese and all, but it still pisses me off. It feels like one of those non-apology apologies. I hope they coughed up a load of cash at least.