Accusations Of Racial Bias Lead Brewery To Apologize

WALDEN, NY — The manager of a Hudson Valley brewery was fired after an incident in which there were accusations of racial profiling. Facebook user Marie Cleone posted Sunday that she and seven of her friends, including her boyfriend who was celebrating his 40th birthday, traveled from Manhattan to Angry Orchard, a brewery in Walden in Orange County.

Cleone said that they were there to enjoy an afternoon of hard cider and were the only black people at the brewery at the time.

She said, while her boyfriend was attempting to surprise her with a marriage proposal, a security guard approached them and said to the boyfriend that she needed to check his back pocket because someone had said he had stolen a T-shirt from the gift shop.

Cleone's boyfriend emptied his pockets, she said, and the security person walked away.

The attempted proposal began and the same security guard approached the couple again saying to Cleone that her bag would have to be checked because the guard was told the boyfriend gave the T-shirt to her.

"Mind you, my bag isn't even large enough to fit a T-shirt," Cleone said, and emptied the entire bag in front of the security guard.

Cleone posted that she said to the security guard that she wondered whether the reason she was asking them to empty their pockets and handbag was because they were the only black people at the brewery.

The guard denied that was the case and went away again.

After Cleone accepted her boyfriend's proposal of marriage, there were cheers and the other members of her party came over to congratulate them.

"Then surprise, surprise … the same young lady from security walks over to the group of us and says, 'I'm sorry, I didn't realize you all were a part of the same party. I have to check all of your purses and pockets,' " Cleone wrote.

The security people, according to Cleone, began saying that other patrons had seen the boyfriend steal the T-shirt and give it her, with one security person yelling to another to call the police.

Cleone asked if there were security cameras and was told there were. She challenged them to review the videos.

When security personnel began taking photographs and videos of them, the group decided to leave.

"I have never been so humiliated in my life," Cleone said, adding that she and some of her friends left the brewery in tears.

"On what was supposed to be one of the best days of my life, I was chased out of Angry Orchard by security who followed us all the way to the parking lot," she said.

Cleone said she was a doctor and had no reason to steal a $28 T-shirt.

"I love hard cider, but Angry Orchard will never touch these lips again," she wrote.

Angry Orchard responded to the incident Tuesday on Facebook by saying that as soon as they learned about it they launched an investigation and got in touch directly with Cleone "to express our sincerest apology and offer to make it right."

The brewery said they recognize that the situation was badly mishandled "and our team's response was inexcusable."

As of Monday, the on-duty manager and the security team members who were working Sunday were replaced.

Mandatory training on security awareness and unconscious bias for everyone on staff was initiated to prevent something like this from happening in the future.

"We're deeply sorry that our guests were mistreated," the brewery posted. "This event does not reflect our company values of respect for all and creating a welcoming environment for our guests, and while we wish it didn't occur at all, we are treating this moment as a valuable learning experience for our staff."

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