10.24.19 Bee-otch of the Day: Founder's Brewing Co.

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Bee-otch of the Day honors are awarded Monday through Thursday; Bee-otch of the Week is awarded Sunday morning on Chuck69.com.

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Name: Founders Brewing Co.
Age: 22
Occupation: brewery
Last Seen: Grand Rapids, MI
Bee-otched For: having a PBR-like reputation
 

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Michigan is known for it's long, depressing, cold winters and hot, humid summers, but dammit, we love our beer.

For several years, Grand Rapids has been known as "Beer City USA" because we have several indie breweries. And the King of Beers here has long been Founder's. Dave Engbers and Mike Stevens founded Founders in 1997 straight out of college. Twenty-two years and millions of barrels of All Day IPA, Dirty Bastard and KBS later, they're still a vital brewery for the citizens of west Michigan.

But now, the company - now owned by Mahou San Miguel of Spain - is facing backlash over how they treated an African American employee.

Tracy Evans is suing the Grand Rapids brewery, claiming that he was treated horribly because of his skin color. In the suit, Evans claims that he was peered down because he was black and his co-workers all got promotions despite having less experience. When Evans complained about how he was treated to management, he was fired.

Sadly, this reminds me of a female co-worker of mine from several years ago. She was older and had 40 years' experience under her belt with another company here in Grand Rapids. Our boss was hoping that she could be a right-hander for him, but not at what she was getting paid. At the end, she and I were getting paid 50 CENTS LESS PER HOUR THAN OUR NEW HIRES. We were busting our asses while the newbies were simply sitting on their asses on their cell phones. Well, she spoke out to the boss and guess what? She was fired. Thankfully, a few months later, our boss retired and I got a shit ton of raises.

Now, I don't know how old Evans' boss was, but the sure thing is that the big difference between him and my ex-co-worker and I is that he's black. Evans claims that co-workers were constantly using ethnic slurs around him and management was all white while the workers were people of color.

Founders, OTOH has denied Evans' claims and has made no mention of the case on social media. Meanwhile, Detroit bars have all halted the sale of Founders' beers and the company will not participate in Detroit's Fall Beer Festival.

You know, in this day and age of the internet, anybody can be a whistleblower. Anybody can set up a fake account and blast the company they work for. When my ex-boss was running my company, I should have constantly attacked him for his lavish lifestyle and constant vacations while I wasn't making $10 per hour for 10 years. But sadly, there were not many jobs out there thanks to the horrid economy.

Now, I think we've all had bad bosses no matter where or what. And because we don't want to risk losing our jobs, we keep our mouths shut. But when a company and its employees judge somebody because of their skin color, it's a no-no. Now, it might be different if Mr. Evans was constantly late and/or had poor work skills. But, then again, I've dealt with whites at my workplace who were always late and were lazy. That's life.

Even though I live in Grand Rapids and I do drink beer, I prefer Short's, which is brewed out of Elk Rapids. I'm an ER native and am proud that Joe Short has brought a plethora of jobs to the area. Thirty years ago or so, Elk Rapids was a ghost town with downtown littered with abandoned buildings. My mother worked at a tool and die there and it closed, causing her to work at a gas station for less pay. Oddly enough, Short's facility in ER is in the neighborhood of the shop my mom worked. ER and all of northern Michigan has grown tremendously over the past few years thanks to everything from the addition of festivals like the Traverse City Film Festival, casinos for the adults and Great Wolf for the kids. Grand Rapids has its share of growth, too, but at last check, Short's treats people of color with respect.

So, that's why you'll see Bellaire Brown over KBS in my fridge. Besides, the last time I went to their taproom, I wasn't totally impressed with their food. Not to mention, I was drinking Sprite (I was driving) and it was flat as hell.

What Made Grand Rapids Famous just made a fool out of themselves.

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