Whole Foods countersues pastor who claimed he was offended by slur

Dre said
Whole Foods denies it made anti-gay cake - CNN.com

When I first heard the story that "***" (gay slur in case SR edits) was written on a pastor's cake, I figured it was some right wing pastor. I did not really pay attention, but I just assumed he probably wrote it himself and was enjoying being outraged. But when I saw the story that Whole Foods countersued (I suspect I might be using the term incorrectly), I decided to read it. Turns out the pastor himself is gay. Whole Foods says the employee who decorated the cake is gay too.

While we have to see how this one unfolds, this sort of reminds me of that crazy girl who branded herself on her face with iron and alleged it was Obama supporters.

Just to be clear, a "counter-suit" is when a party gets sued and they file affirmative claims back against the plaintiff. In a situation like this, where the plaintiff has gone public with the allegations that the defendant believes are false, the counterclaim is for defamation, fraud (attempting to gain consideration through false pretenses), and similar claims. A defendant counterclaiming isn't really the same as going out and suing someone.

My sense of this is has to be in favor of Whole Foods. The whole corporate ethos is anti-discriminatory and progressive. And their wages are much higher than the grocery segment competition, which results in industry-leading employee retention and satisfaction. Categorically, I have a very hard time thinking some Whole Foods employee would do something so destructive.

To the evidence, Whole Foods says that the slur is in different style and thickness from their cake decorating standards, and from the other (non-offensive) part of the cake. And that they reviewed store camera footage that shows the UPC label on the top of the cake when Mr. Brown bought it - but it was on the side when he returned in outrage. Also, as some on twitter point out, if the message on the cake is clearly visible through the cake's plastic window in the packaging, it's dubious that he didn't see it until he got home.

Is this some rouge Whole Foods employee trying to embarrass the company? Or is this Mr. Brown with some political/social agenda . . . perhaps he has some other, personal ax to grind with Whole Foods? My money is on the latter. I suppose it could also be some third party who had access to the cake at some point and added the slur.

Whole foods denies the allegations, stating that it has a zero-tolerance policy for discrimination. The grocery store said the bakery team member who decorated the cake is a member of the LGBTQ community and that other team members confirmed that the cake only said "Love Wins."

"Our team member wrote 'Love Wins' at the top of the cake as requested by the guest, and that's exactly how the cake was packaged and sold at the store," Whole Foods said. "Our team members do not accept or design bakery orders that include language or images that are offensive."

That leaves the court of public opinion -- the Internet -- wondering whose story is correct. On one side are people on social media who speculate Brown's story is a hoax.

"That handwriting is different and the thickness of the frosting is inconsistent, this is the work of an amateur," Elinor Wolfa wrote on Twitter.
. . .
On Tuesday, Whole Foods attempted to put the mystery to rest by releasing the surveillance video of Brown buying the cake.

"After reviewing our 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," Robin Kelly, Whole Foods spokesperson, said in a statement. "This is evident as the cashier scans the UPC code on top of the box."

Brown's claim is false and directly contradicts Whole Foods Market's inclusive culture, which celebrates diversity, Kelly said.

"After a deeper investigation of Mr. Brown's claim, we believe his accusations are fraudulent and we intend to take legal action against both Mr. Brown and his attorney," Kelly said.

Whole Foods denies it made anti-gay cake - CNN.com