GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — After writing a biting resignation letter to the Founders Brewing Co. leadership team, the outgoing diversity and inclusion director said the company ignored her input amid a racial discrimination lawsuit.
Graci Harkema was hired by Founders in January of 2019, a few months after former manager Tracy Evans filed a lawsuit against the company in U.S. District Court.
She said the controversy surrounding the lawsuit was an opportunity to prioritize diversity and enhance the culture at Founders.
"That was an obligation and an opportunity to talk about inclusion in the workplace, to do more and be able to take active measurable steps from a corporate standpoint and ensuring no one would feel they were uncomfortable regardless of the lawsuit," Harkema said Saturday.
But after a deposition was leaked, during which a manager deflects when asked about Evans' race, Harkema said leadership excluded her when discussing response strategy.
"My voice wasn't heard," she said. "I couldn't stand for a company that didn't represent integrity and didn't represent the ability to talk about the hard issues... about why I was brought in the role to begin with."
Harkema said she had ideas for how to respond to both employees and the media, which were backed up by credible public relations firms.
"I wanted Founders to own what was happening," she said. "It was like a ship was sinking in front of our eyes, and someone was throwing out the raft. We could've grabbed it by just acknowledging we were sinking."
Harkema said the leadership team was more focused on winning the lawsuit, concerned that admitting issues with the deposition would be admitting fault for every issue raised in the case.
In reference to the deposition, the company's co-founders, Mike Stevens and Dave Engbers, said Saturday that the Founders' defense is not being colorblind.
"That is simply absurd," they said. "Founders has always known Tracy Evans is black. The stated defense of Founders remains that Tracy was terminated due to lack of job performance after repeated, documented efforts to help him improve."
Harkema does not believe there is blatant racism within the Founders leadership team, but she sees a "lack of self awareness to listen to the experiences of others who have walked in different shoes."
"I'm proud of the time I had at Founders," she said. "But if Founders wants to continue to grow as a brand and grow in this industry, they [must] acknowledge the blaring issues that are ahead of them...and truly prioritize diversity and inclusion from the top."
In response to Harkema's resignation, Stevens and Engbers said:
"Graci Harkema had been valuable member of our Founders family during her time with Founders. We were sorry to receive her resignation on Friday. We sincerely appreciate all of her efforts to help move our company forward. We will continue our diversity and inclusion program and plan to have leadership in place in that important area as soon as possible."
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