After a former employee shared her story of pregnancy discrimination and examples of a hostile work environment, Boulevard Brewing Company issued a statement today saying the Kansas City, Missouri-based craft brewery takes the accusations “very seriously” but an investigation of the allegations a year ago found “that there was no harrassment or discrimination.”
Natalie Gershon, VP of marketing for Duvel Moortgat USA, Boulevard’s parent company, defended the workplace but also offered that there was room for improvement, noting that Boulevard would change the way it investigates harassment claims and also was anticipating “hard conversations.”
The company itself defended the investigation, but also made it clear that its handling of the situation was not ideal.
“While we cannot delve deeply into personnel or employment matters, it is worth noting that these charges were thoroughly and impartially examined a year ago,” the company said in the statement posted to its website. “The investigation determined that certain situations could and should have been handled with greater sensitivity, but clearly established that there was no harassment or discrimination.
“We are not perfect, but we have not, and we will not, tolerate harassment, mistreatment, or prejudice in any form.”
The former employee, who detailed her experiences in a post on Reddit forum for beer industry workers, wrote that her manager demanded to know if she and a female co-worker were pregnant and continued to ask when they refused to answer.
“I reported this to HR, but it started a cycle of reporting his behavior to HR and then being punished (by him) for going to HR,” the former employee wrote. “This wasn’t a one time incident. My boss’s bad behavior was a well known ‘joke’ in the brewery. Former employees warned me about him. When coworkers found out I was pregnant, their response was ‘Oh, he didn’t take that well, did he?’”
The employee wrote that she left the company in March 2020 as a result of the alleged harassment she faced while pregnant.
Under the Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA), a 1978 amendment added to the Civil Rights Act of 1964, companies cannot discriminate against employees or applicants on the basis of pregnancy.
“The PDA also forbids discrimination based on pregnancy when it comes to any other aspect of employment, including pay, job assignments, promotions, layoffs, training, fringe benefits, firing, and any other term or condition of employment,” the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission wrote in a fact sheet published in 1997.
Following the incident, Boulevard’s human resources director conducted an investigation that included the former employee, her manager and several laboratory coworkers, Gershon told Brewbound.
“It was swift, it was transparent,” she said. “It was clear that there was, it was certainly something that was not handled with the most sensitivity. I think that’s clear that we perhaps can use some greater management training, but harassment and discrimination in this instance did not take place.”
Gershon could not share specific details of the incident, citing employee confidentiality. However, she said Boulevard “formally disputes that there was pregnancy discrimination.”
In Boulevard’s statement, the company announced the creation of a task force of female leaders “to take another look at the allegations, and to spearhead the effort to fully empower the women of Boulevard.”
“We are committed to doing what needs to be done to ensure that each and every one of our people feel safe, supported, and respected,” Boulevard wrote.
In addition to forming the task force of female leaders, Boulevard will also gather groups of women from across departments to discuss their experiences with the intention of having “really honest, hard conversations,” Gershon said.
“The reality is you can pick up the phone and talk to any woman here, and I think they would say the same thing: This has been a great place to work,” Gershon said. “For anyone that thinks differently, though, we have to create a safe space to bring feedback to leadership and create action based on it, which is really the crux of this group of female leaders that I want to rally together and that were so willing to come to the table and do this really hard, messy work.”
Boulevard will create “a true path for anonymous reporting of concerns or issues,” Gershon said. She added that the company disputes any reports of employees facing backlash for reporting issues, which the anonymous employee on Reddit alleged.
Boulevard will also change the way it investigates claims, Gershon said.
“We are working on a change in the leadership structure around human resources, so investigations in the future are as protected and as impartial as they can possibly be,” she said. “They’re reviewed by a panel of employees with findings brought to leadership and counsel with recommendations.”
The former Boulevard employee who shared the story of discrimation on the Reddit forum has not returned a request for comment from Brewbound as of press time.
Another former Boulevard employee, who asked that she not be named, told Brewbound that the culture of discrimnation against female employees existed when she worked there several years ago. She was told there were aspects of her job she could not perform because of her gender, and a male external hire was brought in, effectively demoting her, even though she had as much experience as he did.
She said she received no support from management or human resources.
“I spent so much time doubting myself and trying to figure out what my problem was,” she said.
After a year, she said she left the company due to the situation worsening after she voiced her concerns.
“I spoke up about the way I was treated and that was my demise,” she said.
In her exit interview, she recapped the situation for her interviewer, who she said acted stunned to hear about her experiences.
Even though she had a poor experience after speaking up about how she was treated, she said she hopes women in the beer industry continue to call out wrongdoing — and that people believe them when they do.
“We have to be more focused on believing people,” she said.