Valbella Gourmet Foods in Canmore told the Star it’s reviewing internal policies and will be “implementing a new equity, diversity and inclusion policy” after Jeff von Rotz, who was the company’s president, sent a homophobic email earlier this week to the town’s Pride organization when asked to sponsor an upcoming community event.the organization received from Valbella read, in part, “I’m sorry to say but you could not pay me enough to sponsor anything to do with child-grooming .
Von Rotz was fired after the email was made public. He signed the email as the company’s owner, a title Valbella now refutes. “I know sometimes in the community, there’s microaggressions, but this one was very much direct. And it was harmful, and it hit the whole community,” said Perritt. Rusticana Grocery said on Facebook it is donating 100 per cent of its Valbella proceeds to the organization, and that it is “moving forward with new suppliers immediately.”
The ongoing issue is the refusal of the company to acknowledge that the person fired was the son of the owners and the person speaking is the daughter of the owners...and the owners are the parents. His attitude was not a surprised and was at the very least condoned and supported
First, business out there is seeing in real time how lip service to an apology fails in spectacular fashion. Second, it's a clear reminder to business that taking political/social positions on behalf of your brand is extremely risky when general consensus is not on your side.
A man in a dress is not a woman.