Disagreement continues at Founders as the company's director of diversity and inclusion resigns
GRAND RAPIDS, MI – While the fallout continues from a racial discrimination lawsuit involving Founders Brewing, the company's diversity and inclusion director announced her departure.
Graci Harkema posted on Facebook late Friday 25th. October that she resigned on November 8.
She posted the lengthy letter of resignation on the same day that the founders announced that it was closing the Detroit tap room partly out of concern for employee safety and because of "recent incidents."
a week after a leaked filing from a lawsuit against racial discrimination against the company revealed that the CEO of the Entrepreneurs would not admit that the black employee who brought the lawsuit is black.
WWJ Newsradio reported on Friday that boss Dominic Ryan was removed from his position and asked to take leave from work.
In the fallout, the Founders withdrew from the Fall Beer Fest in Detroit, and The Detroit Free Press reports some Detr Oit bars and shops are picking Founders beer off their shelves.
In her letter, Harkema said that her suggestions for leadership in the company about "increasing our reputation and increasing our narrative, media reputation and morale with employees" were not followed.
She referred the lawsuit early in the letter.
"We as a company need not be in the place we are now," she wrote.
"Prioritization of diversity and inclusion begins at the peak," she wrote. "We do not experience a staffing problem. We experience a leadership problem. Inclusion ensures that we have room and vote at the table."
In a statement that was released earlier Friday, founders of founders Mike Stevens and Dave Engbers wrote that they want to retain customer trust and support.
They apologized to the company's more than 600 employees and said they have "committed to working closely with them to make changes to the company that need to be made to ensure a positive future. These talks are underway. "
" What comes to mind ̵[ads1]1; in accordance with our culture that brings people together and standards – will be resolved. Our founding family will point us in the right direction, "they wrote.
