AUSTIN, Texas – Less than one day after an Austin pastor filed a lawsuit against Whole Foods, the grocery giant is striking back.
Jordan Brown claims a bakery department associate wrote an anti-gay slur on a cake he purchased. According to the suit, he asked employees in the bakery department to write “Love Wins” on a blank, pre-frosted cake.
Brown told KXAN that the employee wrote “Love Wins F**” on the cake.
Whole Foods immediately denied the claim.
“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,” a statement from Whole Foods read.
On Tuesday, the grocery store released security footage, disputing Brown’s claims.
“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.
In a video that Brown’s lawyers published on Monday, Brown shows that the sticker and barcode on the cake have not been tampered with.
However, Whole Foods claims the barcode should have been on top of the box, not on the side.
“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. This is evident as the cashier scans the UPC code on top of the box, which you can view here,” the statement read.
The company says it is standing behind the baker “who is part of the LGBTQ community.”
