Texas pastor claims Whole Foods cake had homophobic slur
AUSTIN, Texas -- A pastor in Austin, Texas, claims a cake he ordered from a Whole Foods on Thursday had a homophobic slur written on it, CBS affiliate KEYE reported.
The attorneys for Pastor Jordan Brown said he ordered a cake from a Whole Foods store with the personalized message "Love Wins," but when he received it, the cake said "Love Wins F**."
In a YouTube video, Pastor Brown claims he didn't realize what it said until he got into his vehicle. In the video, he shows the box containing the cake, apparently still sealed, with the message written on it.
Brown said he called and spoke to an employee at Whole Food and he was extremely apologetic. He said the employee then requested the issue be taken care of internally, and would call him back.
Brown said in the video when the employee, who appeared to be a store manager, called back two hours later, he said the Whole Foods employee did not do this, and said there was nothing that could be done.
Brown's attorneys told KEYE, that after reaching out to the Whole Foods corporate office and receiving no substantive response for more than three days, they filed a lawsuit.
"Pastor Brown never asked for this to happen. He continues to be overwhelmed by the feelings of pain, anguish, and humiliation because of this incident," said Austin Kaplan, Brown's attorney. "He frequently shopped at Whole Foods, which makes this all the more shocking and disappointing. What really concerns him is knowing that unless some action is taken, this kind of thing could happen again, and that someone else might have to go through a similarly excruciating experience."
According to his attorney, Pastor Brown is an openly gay African-American man, and founder of the Church of Open Doors, a non-denominational, Christian-based church.
Whole Foods released the following statement regarding Pastor Brown's 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."