Ryan: OK. Attorneys for Founders maintain that Evans was fired not because of his race, but because of poor job performance. Founders Manager Dominic Ryan: 2011, 2012. We put him on a program to get some coaching, to get some additional training. “Going through an experience such as racism is nothing new to people of color,” Evans said. That’s never been our stance as a company. A basic breakdown of COVID-19 the updated regulations for Michigan restaurants, bars, workers, and patrons during the pandemic, The Essential Guide to Christmas 2020 Dining in Southeast Michigan, Where to order dinner, find festive cocktails, and celebrate with friends (virtually), More Southeast Michigan Restaurants, Bars, and Breweries Receive Liquor License Suspensions, Tenacity Brewing in Flint and Oak Cafe in Wyandotte are among the five most recent license suspensions for violating COVID-19 orders, Ring in the New Year With These Detroit Restaurant Meals, Where to order drinks and food for the last godforsaken night of 2020, Former Founders Brewing Co. “I have tried to reason with Founders and they continue to want to deny these things and look at it from their own perspective,” he says. Vague question. When this lawsuit hit us, we didn’t know the potential of what could happen. Ryan: So that’s what you’re referring to? from the lawsuit, which raised a lot of eyebrows. • Founders Brewing Manager Claims He Didn’t Know Black Employee Is Black [MT]• Founders Brewing Co. A white …. He worked there for about 4 years. Schulz: And did you ever realize that Tracy’s skin [is] Black? Was he a poor employee that entire time? View Dominic Ryan’s profile on LinkedIn, the world’s largest professional community. Do you think it would’ve been easier to issue an apology and admit that there is possibly some wrongdoing, some of which Founders’ does acknowledge had happened in the workplace? The fact that Mr. Evans is selectively leaking this type of information to you indicates that, unlike Founders, he has no evidence to support his position in this case. Founders Manager Dominic Ryan: What do you mean by that? Evans says he felt it was his responsibility to say something to HR, but was discouraged when the company didn’t seem to take his concerns seriously and eventually pushed him out for questioning the culture. Taproom (curbside pickup only): Sunday-Saturday 11am-7pm Do you know if Michael Jordan is Black? That is correct. I can’t speculate on what Dominic was thinking. He was under oath when he made these statements. WDET is a community service of Wayne State University. As soon as it was brought to our attention, [human resources] was brought in and those employees were spoken to, it was put on their permanent records. In the leaked deposition, Evans' Attorney, Jack Schulz, asked Founders' Manager Dominic Ryan, "Are you aware Tracy is African American?" Evans says in an interview that it took a long time to get up the courage to speak out in his workplace about things he felt were wrong and that his lawsuit is about helping empower others to do the same. Tracy Evans doesn’t work at Founders Brewing Co. 100 percent due to his performance. Update, 9:59 a.m., October 23, 2019: This story has been updated with a statement on the boycott by EMBC from the Michigan Brewers Guild. At this point, the Founders manager Dominic Ryan, he’s still with the company? I mean, like, I don’t know his DNA. “It’s time to start saying something,” he says. That’s never been our stance as a company. “We’re confident in the lawsuit. Schulz: So you don’t know if Barack Obama is Black? We use cookies and other tracking technologies to improve your browsing experience on our site, show personalized content and targeted ads, analyze site traffic, and understand where our audiences come from. Have you? That’s when Ryan denied to confirm that his former employee is black. We saw it as a good opportunity for Tracy and he got the job. The brewery faced backlash when in a leaked deposition Founders' general manager Dominic Ryan said he could not definitively say whether Evans is … Michigan’s largest beer maker Founders Brewing Company is facing renewed scrutiny arising from an ongoing racial discrimination lawsuit. Second, this testimony is not Founders’ defense in this case as you allege.