Whole Foods sues gay man who claimed anti-gay slur written on his cake
Whole Foods has countersued an Austin gay pastor who claimed that a cake decorator at the store wrote an anti-gay slur on his cake.
Jordan Brown says he didn't notice the slur until he was stopped at a stoplight some blocks away. He requested that "Love Wins" be written on the cake but claims that "Love Wins Fag" was written on it.
Whole Foods released a video they say proves that the pastor altered the cake.
In a countersuit filed in state district court in Travis County, Whole Foods says Brown “intentionally, knowingly and falsely accused Whole Foods and its employees of writing the homophobic slur… on a custom made cake that he ordered from WFM’s Lamar Store in Austin…”
The suit denies those claims, and accuses Brown of acting “with malice, and he has damaged the reputation and business of WFM.”
The lawsuit seeks at least $100,000 in damages from Brown.
The company said that a bakery team member wrote only “Love Wins” at the top of the cake as Brown requested. This was visible to Brown through the clear portion of the packaging, Whole Foods said.
“That’s exactly how the cake was packaged and sold at the store,” the company said. “Whole Foods Market has a strict policy that prohibits team members from accepting or designing bakery orders that include language or images that are offensive.”
The retailer went on to say Brown admitted that he was in sole possession and control of the cake until he posted his video, which showed the UPC label on the bottom and side of the box.
“After reviewing their security footage of Mr. Brown, it’s clear that the UPC label was in fact on top of the cake box, not on the side of the package,” Whole Foods said. “This is evident as the cashier scans the UPC code on top of the box, which you can view here.”
The company said it continues to stand behind its team members.
“We stand behind our bakery team member, who is part of the LGBTQ community, and we appreciate the team members and shoppers who recognize that this claim is completely false and directly contradicts Whole Foods Market’s inclusive culture, which celebrates diversity,” the company said.
More than a half a dozen calls and emails to both Brown and his attorney Austin Kaplan seeking comment were not immediately returned Tuesday.
Steve Hayward at Powerline cracks wise: "Clearly the Rev. Brown must have flunked out of Rev. Sharpton’s school of shakedowns."
Apparently, the gay reverend sort of forgot about the security cameras being able to disprove his extortion attempt. And did he really think they wouldn't notice that the UPC label had been tampered with? Sheesh.
A master criminal, the Rev. Jordan is not. In fact, a 12-year-old could probably have played the scam a lot better.
Just another social justice warrior trying to cash in on pretend hate.