Windy City Media Group Frontpage News

THE VOICE OF CHICAGO'S GAY, LESBIAN, BI, TRANS AND QUEER COMMUNITY SINCE 1985

home search facebook twitter join
Gay News Sponsor Windy City Times 2023-12-13
DOWNLOAD ISSUE
Donate

Sponsor
Sponsor
Sponsor

  WINDY CITY TIMES

Mariano's employee claims he was fired for being gay
by Gretchen Rachel Blickensderfer
2014-09-03

This article shared 8037 times since Wed Sep 3, 2014
facebook twitter pin it google +1 reddit email


At the end of January 2014, James Beck —a 44-year-old resident of Edgewater—was laid off from his job at Macy's. The very same day, he walked into a recruitment center for Mariano's Fresh Market. Beck said he was hired within four weeks. By the middle of April, he was the supervisor to eight Mariano's employees and the team lead for the smoothie bar at the Ravenswood store in the 1800 block of West Lawrence Avenue. Beck couldn't believe his luck.

Less than three months later, Beck had been fired. The store manager claimed it was for excessive absences. In August, in filings with both the City of Chicago Commission on Human Relations and the Illinois Department of Human Rights, Beck alleges it was because he was gay.

Mariano's parent company is Roundy's Supermarkets Inc. based in Milwaukee. In December of 2013, they bought 11 former Dominick's locations after Safeway announced closures of the stores across Chicago. The Ravenswood Mariano's opened in early April.

Beck told Windy City Times that his problems began two weeks after the store opened when a colleague—named in the complaint as the "Team Lead ( Vero Coffee ) Brian Morgan"—began to make "flirtatious comments to me."

"He baited me," Beck said. "Even though he said he was straight, he would touch me on the arm or the shoulder and would say things like 'you know more about my body than girlfriends I've had.'" Beck further alleges that Morgan took him up to what Morgan termed the "secret garden" on the roof of the store telling Beck, "I wanted to show this to you so we would have somewhere to sneak off and be alone together."

On another occasion, Beck claims Morgan called him on the phone and—during that conversation—said that he "wanted the lines of communication, both professional and personal, to be wide open between us."

"It was the tone in which he said it," Beck maintained. "It was in an intimate, not a professional, way."

One of Beck's co-workers—who asked not to be identified—claimed that she witnessed Morgan's actions towards Beck over a period of two or three months. "I saw them interact a lot," she said. "And [Morgan] made it seem like he was interested in Jim. He was just being real flirtatious with him. I thought it was inappropriate."

Although Beck informed his therapist of how uncomfortable Morgan was making him, he did not approach store management with a complaint. "I genuinely liked Brian," he said. "I didn't want to get him in trouble."

Beck said that Morgan joined him and other colleagues on two separate occasions at Scot's, a gay bar on the North Side of Chicago. After one such visit on June 7, Beck hailed a cab and Morgan jumped in next to him—much to Beck's surprise. "We didn't say anything during the ride," Beck said. "It was late and the cab took me to my car. Brian took the cab to his home."

On returning to work two days later, Beck said he learned Morgan had been furious about insinuations that he and Beck were a couple and had told the store's director Mike Binder that he believed Beck had started the rumor.

On June 10, Beck was transferred to the produce department. Beck informed store management that back problems plus a sinus condition would prevent him from performing duties including heavy lifting and extended periods of time in the store's cooler. "Mike made it clear that this [transfer] was permanent," Beck said. "I was told that that if I wanted to keep my job, I had to go to produce."

After four days on the job, Beck's sinus condition flared up and he called in sick for one day. On June 23, he was terminated. The form handed to him read "you have had six absences since you were hired and that is unacceptable."

Beck provided proof to Windy City Times via his pay stubs that he accrued no more than three absences throughout the entire term of his employment with Mariano's. He added that store management would not listen to him. "I was extremely upset," Beck said. "I couldn't eat or sleep."

The Illinois Department of Employment Security deemed him eligible for benefits saying "the evidence shows that the claimant's actions resulting on this discharge was not deliberate or willful."

Beck acknowledged that he knew other gay workers at Mariano's who were not subjected to the same treatment. "Because no one made accusations that [the other gay employees] were spreading rumors," he said, "nobody came to me and asked me for my side of the story. They took [Morgan's] word for it because he's 'straight' and they just transferred me against my will and then fired me."

He added that he is seeking compensation from Mariano's for loss of wages and the pain and suffering of losing his job. The Illinois Department of Human Rights filing claims discrimination based on "sex" and as "retaliation." The City of Chicago Commission on Human Relations filing claims discrimination based on sexual orientation.

Roundy's Supermarkets, Inc., refused comment on the matter, saying that it is currently performing its own internal investigation.


This article shared 8037 times since Wed Sep 3, 2014
facebook twitter pin it google +1 reddit email

Out and Aging
Presented By

  ARTICLES YOU MIGHT LIKE

Gay News

SHOWBIZ Lady Gaga, 'P-Valley,' Wendy Williams, Luke Evans, 'Queer Eye,' 'Transition' 2024-03-15
- Lady Gaga came to the defense of Dylan Mulvaney after a post with the trans influencer/activist for International Women's Day received hateful responses, People Magazine noted. On Instagram, Gaga stated, "It's appalling to me that a ...


Gay News

Smollett asks state supreme court to overturn conviction 2024-02-07
- Embattled actor Jussie Smollett has asked the Illinois Supreme Court to review and overturn an appellate ruling upholding his conviction for a hate-crime hoax that took place more than five years ago, The Chicago Sun-Times noted. ...


Gay News

Club Q shooter faces more than 50 federal hate-crime charges 2024-01-17
- On Jan. 16, the shooter who killed five people—Daniel Davis Aston, Kelly Loving, Derrick Rump, Raymond Green Vance and Ashley Paugh—and injured 40 others at the Colorado Springs LGBTQIA+ nightclub Club Q pled not guilty to ...


Gay News

Jussie Smollett loses appeal, might head back to jail 2023-12-01
- Embattled out gay actor Jussie Smollett could soon be back behind bars after an Illinois appeals court backed the ex-Empire actor's disorderly conduct convictions stemming from a faked 2019 hate crime and lying to Chicago cops, ...


Gay News

NATIONAL Trevor Project, anti-trans crimes, priest sentenced, hate-crimes unit 2023-11-24
- The Trevor Project announced the extension of its partnership with the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, reaffirming its commitment to providing specialized assistance to LGBTQ+ people who call 9-8-8, The Advocate reported. Interim Senior Vice President ...


Gay News

OPINION Renewing state's Invest in Kids program is investing in anti-LGBTQ+ hate 2023-10-23
- In February 2020, Bishop Thomas Paprocki of the Diocese of Springfield warned transgender students in the Diocese's educational system that they "may be expelled from the school" if they live their lives authentically. Lansing Christian School ...


Gay News

Indivisible Illinois hosts online discussion about rise in hate crimes in Illinois 2023-10-20
- Advocates, elected officials and researchers shared ways people can prevent and respond to hate crimes during a Oct. 19 online meeting hosted by Indivisible Illinois, a grassroots coalition of Illinoisans who organize around "urgent and long-term ...


Gay News

Attorney General Kwame Raoul highlights resources to address hate crimes 2023-10-17
--From a press release - Chicago — Attorney General Kwame Raoul released the following statement strongly condemning the heinous acts committed in Plainfield this past weekend and reminding residents to report hate crimes in Illinois, including to his office's Civil Rig ...


Gay News

Statement from President Joe Biden on 25th anniversary of Matthew Shepard's death 2023-10-12
--From a press release - BRIEFING ROOM STATEMENTS AND RELEASES Twenty-five years ago today, Matthew Shepard lost his life to a brutal act of hate and violence that shocked our nation and the world. The week prior, Matthew had been viciously ...


Gay News

GLAAD: GOP primary debate includes question on anti-LGBTQ+ violence, candidates duck 2023-09-28
--From a press release - GLAAD: "Instead of addressing the critical issue of the safety and rights of all Americans, GOP primary candidates ignored the rise in violence and hateful rhetoric aimed at the LGBTQ community and our allies. Several chose ...


Gay News

Man pleads guilty to hate crime at UpRising Bakery 2023-08-17
- Alsip, Illinois resident Joseph I. Collins, 25, pled guilty on Aug. 16 to committing a hate crime last summer at UpRising Bakery and Cafe, a Lake in the Hills business that was preparing to host a ...


Gay News

NATIONAL Drag news, HIV-bias lawsuit, Disney, Brittney Griner, gay dancer 2023-08-04
- Swastika flag-toting neo-Nazis, some of them armed, were at a Wisconsin LGBTQ+ Pride celebration that included a drag show, The Advocate reported. Members of the neo-Nazi extremist group Blood Tribe joined other right-wing hate groups, like ...


Gay News

Dancer O'Shae Sibley murdered amid rising violence against LGBTQs; GLAAD highlights trend 2023-08-01
--From a press release - At least five LGBTQ people have been murdered in recent weeks, following a dramatic spike in anti-LGBTQ hate and harassment during Pride month. GLAAD: "[O'Shae] Sibley's shocking murder follows a disturbing rise in violence and harassment ...


Gay News

Baseball team cuts player who defends anti-LGBTQ+ post 2023-07-05
- Last month, the Toronto Blue Jays cut pitcher Anthony Bass after he said he didn't think an anti-LGBTQ+ social media post he shared last month was hateful, NBC News noted. The move happened hours before Bass ...


Gay News

Prime Minister Trudeau condemns Canadian university stabbings 2023-07-01
- Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau condemned the June 28 stabbings of a professor and two students in a gender-studies class at the University of Waterloo after police revealed the motive was hate-related, calling it "heinous violence," ...


 


Copyright © 2024 Windy City Media Group. All rights reserved.
Reprint by permission only. PDFs for back issues are downloadable from
our online archives.

Return postage must accompany all manuscripts, drawings, and
photographs submitted if they are to be returned, and no
responsibility may be assumed for unsolicited materials.

All rights to letters, art and photos sent to Nightspots
(Chicago GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times (a Chicago
Gay and Lesbian News and Feature Publication) will be treated
as unconditionally assigned for publication purposes and as such,
subject to editing and comment. The opinions expressed by the
columnists, cartoonists, letter writers, and commentators are
their own and do not necessarily reflect the position of Nightspots
(Chicago GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times (a Chicago Gay,
Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender News and Feature Publication).

The appearance of a name, image or photo of a person or group in
Nightspots (Chicago GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times
(a Chicago Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender News and Feature
Publication) does not indicate the sexual orientation of such
individuals or groups. While we encourage readers to support the
advertisers who make this newspaper possible, Nightspots (Chicago
GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times (a Chicago Gay, Lesbian
News and Feature Publication) cannot accept responsibility for
any advertising claims or promotions.

 
 

TRENDINGBREAKINGPHOTOS







Sponsor


 



Donate


About WCMG      Contact Us      Online Front  Page      Windy City  Times      Nightspots
Identity      BLACKlines      En La Vida      Archives      Advanced Search     
Windy City Queercast      Queercast Archives     
Press  Releases      Join WCMG  Email List      Email Blast      Blogs     
Upcoming Events      Todays Events      Ongoing Events      Bar Guide      Community Groups      In Memoriam     
Privacy Policy     

Windy City Media Group publishes Windy City Times,
The Bi-Weekly Voice of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Trans Community.
5315 N. Clark St. #192, Chicago, IL 60640-2113 • PH (773) 871-7610 • FAX (773) 871-7609.