Whole Foods Sues Gay Pastor for $100K After Homophobic Cake Allegation
Whole Foods Market has filed a counter lawsuit against a gay pastor in Texas who accused a store in Austin of selling him a cake with a homophobic slur decorated on it, claiming security footage disproves the pastor's allegation.
Openly-gay Pastor Jordan Brown of Austin's Church of Open Doors alleged on Monday that he ordered a cake with the words "Love Wins" in blue icing on April 14 but was instead sold a cake that states "Love Wins F**."
Brown accused the store of writing the slur on the cake and filed a lawsuit seeking damages and relief for mental anguish. He also filmed a video that was later posted online showing what he claimed to be an unopened and sealed cake box with the cake inside.
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Whole Foods, however, struck back on Tuesday by filing a counter lawsuit with a court in Travis County that accuses the pastor of "intentionally, knowingly and falsely" accusing the Lamar Boulevard Whole Foods and its employees of "writing the homophobic slur on a custom-made cake."
The corporation defended its bakery staff by stating that its associate involved wrote "Love Wins" on the cake. Whole Foods also released surveillance video that the company claims contradicts Brown's claims.
Whole Foods states that its security footage shows the UPC label was on the top of the box when Brown paid for the cake and that Brown even admitted that he was in sole possession of the box until he posted the video, which shows the store's UPC label on the side of the cake box.
"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," the company said in a statement.
Furthermore, Whole Foods claims that the bakery team member in question is a member of the LGBT community.
"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 statement reads.
Whole Foods' lawsuit seeks at least $100,000 in damages and claims that Brown acted "with malice" to damage Whole Foods' reputation.
Following the news of Whole Foods' counter lawsuit and video contrasting the pastor's claims, conservative columnist Mollie Hemingway posted an op-ed in The Federalist chastising the media outlets that ran with Brown's claims and did not check the facts before publishing.
"You should be able to figure out on your own that this is most likely not true," Hemingway wrote. "But let's just say it's so false that Whole Foods is taking legal action against Brown."
Going with the assumption that Brown's claim is fraudulent, Hemingway listed a number of noticeable inconsistencies with Brown's video that prevented his "hoax" from being more believable.
"If you're a gay black progressive in Austin, Texas, Whole Foods is not a credible villain for your cake hoax passion play. Have some common sense," Hemingway wrote. "Whole Foods is known for selling overpriced kombucha, locally sourced quail eggs, and Buddhist magazines. It's just not believable that their Dallas locations are a hotbed of cartoonish bigotry, much less Austin."
Hemingway also states that Brown has no witness other than himself, even though he was in the middle of a grocery store.
"Brown was in a crowded Whole Foods and couldn't find a single person to corroborate his cake story?" Hemingway asked. "Nobody in the bakery noticed? Nobody looking in his cart? No cashier? No one?"
Hemingway also points out that Brown needs better proof than an "easily-resealable adhesive sticker."
"But seriously, how many ways could a Whole Foods cake box be penetrated, other than steaming off the seal, gently taking off the seal and reapplying it, cutting the other side of the box opposite the seal, or removing the plastic at the top?" Hemingway questioned.
Hemingway also points out the glaring fact that the employee accused of the act of bigotry is a member of the LGBT community also. Lastly, Hemingway points out that the writing of "Love Wins" and "F**" do not exactly match in icing consistency or font.
"He might have thought the "fag" scrawl looked similar to the "Love Wins" icing, but it doesn't," she asserted.
