There is a rather bizarre case out of Texas where Whole Foods was sued by Pastor Jordan Brown of Austin’s Church of Open Doors. Brown said he ordered a cake from Whole Foods meant to read “Love Wins” — a slogan associated with the movement to legalize same-sex marriage — but the store instead wrote “Love Wins. Fag.” The very notion of Whole Foods, an iconic brand for liberals, producing an anti-gay cake is news in itself. Indeed, Whole Food was initially apologetic and shocked by the news. That soon turned to a more confrontational and angry reaction after the store reviewed the security tape. The store has countersued and suggested that Brown added the offensive language.
Skeptics have asked how anyone picking up a cake would not see the slur before he left the store. Additionally, any employee would have to know that such a slur would result in the cake being immediately returned with a likely loss of employment.
However, Brown insists that the box has not been opened and he noticed the slur when he got to the car. He specifically notes that the content and pricing UPC label is unbroken — showing that the box had not been opened.
He states: “My question is: Who could have done this? . . . It’s still inside of a sealed box . . . This is discrimination.”
The store however insists that it has the answer and that Brown did it. The store stated
“The 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 . . . Our team members do not accept or design bakery orders that include language or images that are offensive. Whole Foods Market has a zero tolerance policy for discrimination. We stand behind our bakery team member, who is part of the LGBTQ community, and the additional team members from the store, who confirmed the cake was decorated with only the message ‘Love Wins.’”
In its countersuit against both Jordan and his lawyer, the store says that 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 store notes that Brown insists that he was in the sole possession and control of the cake until his posting of the video but that “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. This is evident as the cashier scans the UPC code on top of the box.” The tape is not entirely clear in my view though it does seem like the employee is pointing at the top of the box. Here is the videotape:
This makes for an interesting case. What strikes me as interesting is the forensic aspect. The question (for which I cannot seem to get an answer) is where is the cake? If Brown did write the word “Fag” there should be a measurable difference in either the width or composition of the icing. Not to turn this into CSI: Whole Foods, but getting the icing identical on a cake is not that easy. Moreover if the UPC label was moved, there should be glue residue on the top of the cake.
The suing of the lawyer is also a rare and risky step. Absent strong proof of collusion or conspiracy on a false claim, such lawsuits are met with skepticism by the courts. Attacking an opponent’s lawyer is a common temptation but, absent strong evidence, can be an invitation for a motion for sanctions for a frivolous claim. It also creates conflicts for lawyers continuing in litigation if they are also a defendant and can be done for tactical reasons that courts try to deter. Assuming that his client gave him the same account that he has given publicly, there is no reason for the lawyer to assume that the client is lying. Either account could be true at this point. Of course, if a lawyer discovers that his client is lying, he cannot put that client on the stand and usually must sever representation if he would facilitate a fraud upon the court.
The website of the church states that Pastor Brown is a Pittsburgh native raised in a family of preachers. The site quotes Brown as saying “We’ve taken tradition and religious doctrine and thrown them out the window.” The church states:
We’re a non-denominational, non-traditional, Christ-centered, welcoming, LGBT-friendly, worshiping church! Our mission is to build people’s lives through the teaching and preaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Church Of Open Doors stands to tear down racial and denominational walls, destroying the spirit of poverty, providing unity within the community, giving encouragement and strength for families, and providing a place for Spirit-filled and anointed worship.
We should dub the hoaxes Dolezals.
All racist or anti-LGBQT actions are hoaxes until proven otherwise.
It’s odd to say the least that an employee who is, according to WFM’s statement in the article, “part of the LGBTQ community” would write a gay slur on a cake for a church that, also quoted from the article, is “LGBT-friendly”.
Wrt the label, it depends upon the label used because not all labels leave residue when removed, especially when the label was recently applied. The icing used to add the slur? Go to the baking goods aisle (flour, sugar, etc) and there’s a fairly large section devoted to cake decoration, including squeeze tubes of icing for writing, all in different colors. Chances are quite likely that the bakery uses the same products to decorate their custom cakes (for simplicity), so a person could buy the icing that matched the writing on the cake to add the slur themselves.
In most product tampering cases the “he who smelt it, dealt it” rule applies, meaning the compainant usually is the one who did the tampering. That’s my take on this. I’ll be interested in the resolution of this case to see if my conclusion is accurate.
I want to be a consulting forensic frosting scientist for cases like this…. The research would be very tasty ! (though bad for my blood sugar)
Did Brown eat the cake? Something like this?
There is a mule named Fag who lives in Fayetteville, Arkansas. He is known for working hard until exhausted.
Webster’s Dictionary:
Definition of fag
faggedfagging
intransitive verb
: to work hard : toil
transitive verb
: to tire by strenuous activity : exhaust
He picked up the wrong cake. The Fag cake was for someone else. I would like to take the plaintiff’s deposition. Some questions for him:
Is it true that in high school you had sex with a male cat?
What is a fag? Give us a complete definition.
Can you see with your eyes? Do you wear glasses? Need them for reading letters four inches tall from fifteen inches away?
Can you read and write? Is English or American your language? Any other?
Have you taken a lie detector test before?
Do you know what an itShay detector is?
Did you ever get caught cheating at school?
Did you have Miss Marion as a second grade teacher?
Miss Dunlap in third grade?
Did they call your parents into the school to discuss the cheat sheet?
Was your momma a hooker in Vega?
Ever meet your father? In his jail visitation room?
Did your first wife call you a liar at your divorce trial?
Put your right hand on the Bible and repeat after me.
Do you believe in heaven and hell?
Have you been to either?
What is Hell’s Half Acre?
Why would the word Fag offend you?
Have you ever been a Fag?
Do you know what a Friggin agnostic is?
Do you believe in God?
Do you have a dog?
Who wouldn’t have looked at the box and seen what was on the cake?
davep – I am one of those who would not have looked in the box until I got home, esp. if I was in a hurry.
How believable is it that you would go into a store to pick up a one item order from the deli, and not inspect it through the clear plastic window when the employee hands it to you?
.
How believable is it that you would walk from the deli section of the store to the check out without inspecting or looking at your cake?
.
How believable is it that should you discover the problem after you got to your car that you would not immediately return to the store to complain?
.
None of these scenarios are slightly believable.
.
Finally if one looks at the pastor’s video at about :55 sec. in you will notice that the top of the package doesn’t have any part of the label affixed to it. Rather at about 2:00 min in it is clear that the upc is located on the edge of the package out of the line of site of the checkers scanner and that there are no labels on top of the box.
It does look as though there might have been a label on the box scanned by the checker in that video. It would be interesting to know what the labeling practice actually is at this deli. Anyone live close by there, or possibly another whole foods?
.
I hope this fraudulent lowlife is prosecuted criminally.
Assuming Whole Foods is in the right here, how strong is their case against the lawyer?
Well, even over the Internet…without being even close up to the cake, it is very obvious to me that the CONSISTENCY of the icing…used for the word F A G is much ” thinner” than the other two words. A different piper…..( what the icing is put in prior to ” piping” the words) is not the same as the one used for the two top words.. I am not even a baker.!!
“Brits have called cigs ‘fags’ for generations.”
Nick, again, educates everyone with his pointless contributions and obvious assumption of being the only holder of common knowledge which he so eagerly shares.
It is interesting, though, how his ‘contributions’ eventually have a scatological perspective; as in the second sentence of his post above:
“And, I’m shocked a gay person who be a lying sack o’ feces.”
Obviously, a great mind at work; coining terms and phrases that escape mere mortals, finding the long lost eloquence of language to prove his point.
Genius, really.
Let us say that every so often a business has an employee who goes off the rails. I am more towards Whole Foods, but not ruling out a nutso employee.
I do not believe Pastor Brown’s accusations.
In addition to the suggestions made by those questioning his accounts, as mentioned above, his statement that the label was unbroken and therefore the box was sealed I do not believe it is a full representation of what happened.
As for the label in his video, it is toward the bottom and does cross the portions of the top and bottom of the box, yet, he does not show at least one other seal that was affixed. He could have simply opened the box from the other side and the label would act as a “hinge” of sorts and would not be broken. I suggest it is possible, as the store claims the label was on the top, that he might have substituted another box for this one. In any event this is not box sealed according to what would be done for an evidence container where it has a chain of custody as he is warranting.
The other fact not mentioned is in looking at the top of the cake, there is a noticeable ridge in the icing from the top to the bottom and another bisecting this ridge and running to the left. A cake decorator who took a measurable amount of pride in their work, and it would be an expectation of such an employee, would have finished the top of the cake so that it has a smooth, uniform appearance. Sure this is a low cost cake, but the effort to make it appear correctly is not difficult. I believe the icing was more likely done by Pastor Brown after he lifted the original wording from the top, and replaced it with his own. Because the handwriting would be different than what the cake decorator placed onto the cake, he removed all the lettering and substituted his own.
I cannot see how any person would order a custom decorated cake and not look at it, especially with such a glaringly offensive word right in the middle as seen through the box’s window. The entire basis of his complaint lacks plausibility.
Here is a video of a person professionally preparing a cake with icing decoration. Notice the topside work and compare it with that which Mr. Brown claims came from Whole Foods.
At the jury trial it would be prudent for the lawyer for Whole Foods to ask if any juror has a fag on him and that he is dying for a smoke.
The actual word ‘FAG’ looks thinner in composition than the the rest of the words and look at the A and compare it to the V. Also the the G doesn’t look like it was completely rounded at the top and looks messy at the bottom.
I looked at the tape and I did see a not just one white sticker but two. If you look at it right before he puts it on the counter and just as he takes it off. At least one for sure.
As far as there doesn’t look like there’s any sticky residue may be because he could’ve purchased another cake and used that one.
You have to look at the motive. That word is a blatant knock on the gay lifestyle. Fag used to mean cigarette but it’s evolved. Most business entities are very aware of the sensitivity of this kind of mistake and since it’s so blatant, I just don’t believe it was put on there by the employee. In most cases, when you get writing on a cake, they usually show it to you for approval before they package it.
I believe this dude is looking for a monetary settlement. His modus operandi isn’t hard to figure out.
I’m not a fan of Whole Foods but I hope they rip this liar a new one.
Brits have called cigs “fags” for generations. And, I’m shocked a gay person who be a lying sack o’ feces. I thought they were all honorable!!
Why would he be offended by the word Fag? The cake does not say Queer. There is something queer about this. Or odd. Or odd duck. Why sue the store? Greed. Pure queer greed.