DETROIT – Founders Brewing, Michigan's largest craft beer brewery, is facing controversy as the company closes down its entire Metro Detroit operations due to a lawsuit.
Founders is one of Michigan's more impressive business stories of the past generation. The company started in Grand Rapids in 1998 with a small idea and last month the owners sold a 90 percent stake in the company for $200 million.
The company recently hit a major snag when claims of a racist work environment were made public in a lawsuit.
Earlier this week, Local 4 reported: In a deposition, a Founders Brewing Co. manager claimed he didn't know an employee was black after the worker filed a racial discrimination lawsuit against the Michigan brewery.
According to the suit, Tracy Evans worked at Founders from 2014 to 2018. The lawsuit alleges Evans, who is black, was fired shortly after telling a supervisor he was going to meet with human resources to discuss a racist work environment.
Co-workers used racial slurs around Evans and the company called its printer managers used the "white guy printer," while the general employee printer was named the "black guy printer" the lawsuit states.
When Evans' attorney, Jack Schulz, interviewed Founders General Manager Dominic Ryan, Ryan beat around questions about race and whether he knew Evans was black.
The Founders Tap Room is a shining light among the formerly abandoned neighborhood behind Detroit's Masonic Temple near the intersection of Charlotte Street and Cass Avenue, but it currently sits empty with a paper sign on the door alerting everyone to its temporary closure.
The company acknowledged the lawsuit and accompanying headlines are the reason the tap room is closed during what could be a large money-making weekend. Employee safety was cited for the reason why Founders withdrew from the Detroit Beer Fest.
The company announced Friday morning its famed Canadian Breakfast Stout tapping party would be canceled.
A statement from Founders can be read below.
To our Customers and Communities:
We understand that we have built our company because of the support of our customers - who are really more than that. They're our fans. They're the reason that Founders exists and has seen the growth it has over the years.
Over the course of 22 years, we've created a company and a culture that was built on the very basis that beer is the conduit that brings people together. It connects us and celebrates people from all different backgrounds.
First and foremost, we apologize to our more than 600 employees - who work hard every day to make and serve some of the best beer in the world - for all of the negative attention. We have committed to work closely with them to make any changes to the company that need to be made to ensure a positive future. Those conversations are underway.
Because of the pending litigation that has received so much attention of late, we can't talk any more specifically about the lawsuit that has been in the news. But we want to tell our customers in Detroit, in Michigan and around the country that seeing the integrity and value system of Founders being questioned is one of the hardest things we have ever experienced.
We had been advised not to talk about any of this, even as allegations have been cast in our direction. But we realize we need to talk about this now.
Whatever falls short - according to our culture bringing people together and standards - will be fixed. Our Founders Family will point us in the right direction.
To our local customers - please know that we are committed to Michigan and expanding our presence to Detroit because of the people here, from all walks of life, who come together around the aspects of life they enjoy. We want to continue to earn the trust it takes to be one of those.
To beer enthusiasts everywhere - we want to continue to earn your support.
To the restaurants and bars that serve our products - we share your values. We'll fix any issues. We want to continue to help you make your customers happy.
Additionally, we want you to know that we withdrew from the Fall Beer Fest in Detroit this weekend so that we wouldn't serve as a distraction, given all of the recent headlines. We made that decision with the safety of our employees in mind. It was with the best of intentions - for our company, our industry and the city. We look forward to participating in future years.
Not all employees are happy with the company's decisions in how the situation is being handled -- some employees are planning to protest Saturday at the Tap Room. On the company's Facebook page, Founders said all Detroit employees will be paid during the closure, "including those who have said via social media that they plan to protest during this closure, to call attention to concerns."
These problems are likely to continue hitting the company's bottom line as a number of Detroit bars and restaurants have stopped selling Founders' products.