A pastor in Texas has sued his local Whole Foods Market for a cake he ordered that he said had a gay slur written on it.
Rev. Jordan Brown, pastor of the non-denominational Church of Open Doors in Austin, charged that on April 14 he went to the flagship Whole Foods Market to purchase a cake for his congregation,
KVUE-TV reported.
Brown, who is openly gay, stated that he asked an employee at the bakery to write the words "Love Wins" on the cake, a common phrase used to celebrate the U.S. Supreme Court's same-sex marriage ruling from last year.
The pastor charged that when he received it, however, the wording on the cake read "Love Wins F**."
Brown claimed he did not notice the wording until he left the store and was driving in his vehicle,
KXAN-TV reported.
Brown said that a Whole Foods team leader he contacted was initially apologetic and offered a replacement cake and gift card. The lawsuit said, though, that he later received a call from the same team leader stating that the bakery associate who prepared the cake claimed to have done nothing wrong.
"It's all the more frustrating and disappointing for this to happen with a company that professes to have the kind of values of inclusion, equality and tolerance that we share," Brown's attorney Austin Kaplan,
told the Austin American-Statesman on Monday. "This cake contained a slur directed at the LGBT community, but the next could contain slurs directed at different races, religions, or national origins."
Whole Foods defended itself in a statement, however, saying that the bakery associate wrote exactly what the pastor wanted on the cake and did not add the offensive word.
"Our 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," the Whole Foods statement said.
"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.'"
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