Man Suing Austin's Whole Foods Is Himself Being Sued For Loan Defaults [UPDATES]

AUSTIN, TX -- The man suing Whole Foods after he says a baker added a gay slur written in icing on his ordered cake previously defaulted on a $28,000 student loan for which he's now being sued, according to a news station.

Time Warner Cable News inferred on Thursday the defaulted student loans might have led Jordan Brown, a gay pastor, to concoct the story for financial gain. The station reports Brown's inability to pay off his student loans "...may reveal a possible motive for a story that has several pieces of evidence discrediting its validity."

Last week, Brown made waves in claiming his preordered cake contained the offensive f-word some people use to refer to homosexuals. His lawyer staged a press conference to announce plans to sue Whole Foods for the offending cake, which was only supposed to contain the words "Love Wins" etched in icing.

But shortly after Brown made the accusations, Whole Foods turned around to counter-sue. Store officials went on a full court press in defending themselves, going so far as to releasing store surveillance footage showing Brown buying the cake to prove its point.

One piece of damning evidence against the pastor: The UPC label on the cake box containing the derogatory term that Brown put on his social media page is not in the correct spot per Whole Foods' packaging protocols, store officials said.

"I have not opened up this box yet," Brown said on cell phone video as he presents his purported evidence of an offensive cake. "It is still sealed," he adds, while opening the box with a transparent plastic film cover through which he claims he first saw the icing-etched f-word.

In his subsequent lawsuit, his lawyer indicates he'd leave it up to a jury to decide how much the offensive cake is worth in terms of pain and suffering.

But given the different box, Whole Foods says Brown has perpetrated a hoax -- albeit a clumsy one -- and has now sued back given the damage to its reputation.

Now, Time Warner Cable News and other media outlets have added another piece to the puzzle -- another twist to an already thick plot -- in digging up court records. The news station says the cake claim comes about a month after Brown himself was sued for defaulting on his college loans.

According to the station, a civil suit was filed March 11 against Brown, showing he defaulted on a college loan he secured for the 2007-08 school year at an institution of higher learning called Slippery Rock University -- a school located in Pennsylvania, just north of Pittsburgh.

"The original loan provided for a deferral period, after which defendant Jordan D. Brown would begin repaying the loan,” the suit reads. “Brown has, however, ceased making payments on the Student Loan, thereby creating a default.”

Court documents said Brown has an outstanding balance of $27,915.51, with interest and fees continuing currently accruing.

The very day he was sued, Brown began to ask his Facebook friends to consider joining his Church of Open Doors parish. Those invitations also included calls for donations.

"Come as you are," Brown wrote on a version of the posts as of Wednesday. "Expect a small group, low key, no pressure environment."

Church of Open Doors services are held in the community room of Brown's luxury Southeast Austin apartment complex, the news station reported. The Facebook page for the church includes many posts asking for donations so the church can expand.

Brown posted pictures on his Facebook page of a new permanent location for his church, expected to relocate there in May. But the pastor might have to put those expansion on hold if it's proved he perpetrated a hoax as Whole Foods has now counter-sued him to the tune of at least $100,000.

Time Warner Cable News said Brown and his attorney did not return multiple calls and messages seeking comment on the defaulted-loans-as-motive-for-suing story.

Read or watch the Time Warner Cable News report here.

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From April 20:

AUSTIN, TX -- Austin-based Whole Foods Market is now counter-suing a man who claims their baker inserted a gay slur written in icing on one of their ordered cakes. The man, a pastor, said he picked up his specially ordered cake with the words "Love Wins" for one of his gay parishioners, but an added gay slur that starts with "f" came back instead.

The Austin American-Statesman reported on Tuesday that Whole Foods officials at the grocer are now taking legal action against the man suing them over the alleged icing slur. Whole Foods officials have released security footage video from its North Lamar Boulevard flagship store they say contradicts the accuser's claims.

Whole Foods said it decided to sue Jordan Brown -- the gay pastor who's suing them for the alleged slur -- for making a false accusation against them, the Statesman reported.

“After a deeper investigation of Mr. Brown’s claim, we believe his accusations are fraudulent and we intend to take legal action against both Mr. Brown and his attorney,” the company said in the statement.

Whole Foods officials have maintained all along that their baker only wrote "Love Wins," per the customer's specifications. They've since revealed the baker himself is a member of the gay community, and scrawling the added f-word would be antithetical.

What's more, the slogan "Love Wins" was visible from the transparent, plastic sheet atop the cake box when Brown got his cake, store officials said. The phrase "Love Wins" has become a celebratory rallying cry since the U.S. Supreme Court ruled bans on gay marriage as unconstitutional.

“That’s exactly how the cake was packaged and sold at the store,” company officials said. “Whole Foods Market has a strict policy that prohibits team members from accepting or designing bakery orders that include language or images that are offensive.”

Store officials further point to the surveillance footage versus the picture Brown posted on social media as evidence of their innocence. In the video, the UPC label is not on the correct side of the box as per Whole Foods' packaging protocols.

“After reviewing their security footage of Mr. Brown, it’s clear that the UPC label was in fact on top of the cake box, not on the side of the package,” Whole Foods said. “This is evident as the cashier scans the UPC code on top of the box, which you can view here.”

As such, the company is backing its baker: “We stand behind our bakery team member, who is part of the LGBTQ community, and we appreciate the team members and shoppers who recognize that this claim is completely false and directly contradicts Whole Foods Market’s inclusive culture, which celebrates diversity,” the company said.

So for now, it's a matter of he said-he said. But the plot in this cake controversy has certainly thickened.

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From April 18:

AUSTIN, TX -- A cake is supposed to symbolize celebration, an anniversary, happy retirement or some other joyous occasion -- not a canvas on which a baker should scrawl hateful messages with icing.

But that's what an Austin man claims a Whole Food employee did. Instead of the cake celebrating the tactics of love with the customer's order of a pastry with the words "Love Wins" etched in icing, the finished product arrived with the derisive -- and decidedly un-romantic -- "Love Wins F---."

The "f" word in question here is a pejorative for homosexual, the man alleges. Pastor Jordan Brown, of the Church of Open Doors on East Riverside Drive, said that's what he saw written on the cake when he got it inside his car.

The customer has now sued the grocer, but Whole Foods officials deny the accusation.

"The 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," store officials said in a statement. "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.”

But Brown has a different account of the cake controversy. He said he ordered a blank, pre-frosted cake from the flagship downtown Whole Foods store on North Lamar Boulevard, instructing the clerk to scrawl "Love Wins" across it, according to KXAN-TV.

The pastor at the Church of Open Doors on East Riverside Drive told the news station the cake was meant for one of his congregation members. The alleged reaction of the icing scrawler is illustrative of discrimination over that church member's sexual preference, the pastor said.

He said he was at a stop light when he noticed the pejorative, added term on the cake. He then called the corporate office to complain, but has gotten no response.

Brown took a picture of the cake with the F-word on it, which could become Exhibit A in a courtroom. A press conference was staged at the Kaplan Law Firm offices to provide the press with further details, and to formally announced the legal action against the retailer.

The phrase "Love Wins" is more often associated in celebration of a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision that ruled states' bans on gay marriage were unconstitutional.