The Story of Jimmy Johnson
The first incident of racial hostility alleged by former Meijer employee Mr. Jimmy Johnson occurred on February 27, 2015. I was present in the area at the time of the incident and would witness what all has been alleged.
The back area of receiving was in complete disarray as inventory that had been delivered several months prior had still not been processed and moved to the sales floor. Meijer actually provided extra trailers for storage and there were pallets of food (mayonnaise) that had already expired because it had sat in the back too long. Moving around in the back area was next to impossible and that is the reason Market Director Mr. Mike Keller sent me to South Haven.
What started the controversy was Meijer having a process called Value of Inventory (VOI). This covers many areas of minimizing potential inventory shrinkage and one of the policies was that all trailer doors must be closed and locked if no one is in the backroom or in the receiving area. On this particular Friday, I witnessed Loss Prevention Specialist Intern Mr. Brett Hammond approach Jimmy Johnson and I could see they were having a dispute. Mr. Hammond then approached me and said that he was about to "write us up" as a couple of the trailer doors were unlocked which he said was a violation. I dismissed Hammond’s premise and informed him there is no violation when employees are present. A few moments later, Jimmy Johnson came up to me and said that he had a second altercation with Brett Hammond.
I told Jimmy to get back to work and that I would deal with Mr. Hammond as I was already annoyed with him. Mr. Hammond then came up to me looking visibly shaken and told me that he wasn’t going to write us up for a VOI, but that he was going to write us up because of Jimmy Johnson’s “attitude”. I immediately sensed racial hostility as why did Hammond approach Jimmy Johnson and not myself who was in charge or the other two employees who present? I told Jimmy Johnson to stop working and to immediately go to the employee computer room and write down everything that happened. I also told Jimmy to contact his Union Representative Mr. Andre Jackson as I thought the incident was serious enough for the Union to look in to. The following is Mr. Johnson’s statement from the February 27th incident -
Brett Hammond did process the Violation of Inventory later that evening which I believed was done out of retaliation -
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Please take notice of who all was copied in the email –
April Groenleer – Store Director who would lie to investigators and would eventually be terminated by Meijer. Christie Hamel – Lines leader who would submit the “smoking gun” evidence to the MDCR that proved Meijer
had made false and misleading statements and accusations about me to the MDCR. Tim/Stacy Wright - My direct supervisor who I emailed information about the allegations of racial hostility,
labor fraud, and retaliation that the Meijer Legal Department did not submit during
Arbitration.Michael Coleman – took my place as Grovery 1st Assistant Team Leader and told employees that Meijer had
demoted me and was forcing me out of the company.
On the following day (February 28th), I was summoned to Ms. Groenleer’s office knowing there was going to be a confrontation. I refused to meet with Ms. Groenleer unless there was a Lines Leader present as a witness. We agreed to have Lines Leader Christie Hamel be present as Ms. Hamel’s husband was my direct Supervisor at the Benton Harbor Meijer and so I felt I could trust her. During the meeting, Ms. Groenleer demanded that I write up Jimmy Johnson for the violation of inventory which I refused to do. When I explained to Ms. Groenleer that there was no violation, she still demanded that I write up Mr. Johnson anyways. I stormed out of her office refusing to write up an innocent man (Black, no less) and I gave her a piece of my mind about her treatment of employees and vendors.
The following is what is called a Meeting Report that Ms.Groenleer demanded I process on Jimmy Johnson. I refused to cover the report (noted) and I advised Jimmy Johnson to not sign anything without the presence of an outside Union Representative (also noted).
I reached out to Market Director Mike Keller about the allegations and he advised me to ignore any allegations made by Meijer employees for reasons I would learn about later. I then immediately requested to be transferred back to Benton Harbor where my position was still open, but Keller refused. From this point on, I would be gaslit by Meijer, demoted, and eventually forced out. I would also become homeless and suicidal.
It should be noted that Mr. Brett Hammond was fired by Meijer within 48 hours of the incident that I reported.
The next incident that Mr. Johnson filed a grievance with the Union over had to do with being racially profiled. The following is his statement that he filed with the UFCW951 Local Union -
Jimmy Johnson was livid about being racially profiled while at the checkout line of Meijer and he wanted something done about it. I continued to advise him to document everything and to contact his UFCW951 Local Union Representative Mr. Andre Jackson which he did. Mr. Johnson also contacted the Metropolitan Kalamazoo Branch of the NAACP and filed claims against Meijer and the UFCW951 Local Union for not processing his grievances. I was unaware that Mr. Johnson had contacted the NAACP and this is what caused this situation to escalate to the next level.
I continued to reach out to Meijer Market Director Mr. Mike Keller and HR Representitive Ms. Angela Garlinger about the serious allegations, but would not receive a response. Mr. Keller would falsely claim that he had investigated the allegations and found no substantiation to any of them. Mr. Keller refused to interview any key witnesses including Mr. Jimmy Johnson and on April 21, 2015, he and HR Representative Mr. Ross DeYoung accused me of making false allegations against Meijer and would then inform me that I was no longer a Meijer Store Director in Training. They also said that I would not be transferred to another Meijer store closer to my home even if I took a demotion. I would either have to stay in a low-level Managment position for a company that I knew to be hostile and racist without ever receiving a promotion or I would have to walk away.
I walked out of Meijer for the last time as an employee but before I departed, I attempted to retrieve the emails that I had sent to my direct Supervisor Mr. Timothy Wright (who would later become Ms. Stacy Wright). The emails contained evidence that Meijer colluded with the UFCW951 Local Union and they also contained the allegations of racial hostility and profiling, allegations of labor fraud, and evidence of a highly toxic working environment. When I attempted to access my emails, my access was denied.
Immediately after being terminated by Meijer, I contacted a Van Buren County Prosecutor who I had met at a TEA Party function the summer before. He gave me the name of a Law Firm in Kalamazoo who agreed to meet me for an initial consultation. After telling my story, the Attorney told me that I had no winnable option against Meijer Stores for reasons I still don't understand. It turned out that Meijer Market Director Mr. Mike Keller was correct when he told me that I had no business getting involved with any allegation made by employees no matter how serious. The Attorney explained how the UFCW951 Local Union has full administrative authority over any allegation made by Meijer employees.
Because of the signed UFCW951 Local Union Contract, I had no authority to respond to any allegations of racial profiling, racial hostility, labor fraud, retaliation, and so on. If the UFCW951 Local Union doesn’t file a claim against Meijer, then no allegations legally exist. This is the central issue regarding Jimmy Johnson and the complaints he and others filed.
The Attorney offered (with a $10,000 retainer) to contact Meijer with an apology and to try and get my job back. Since I didn’t have $10,000 or anyone to borrow from, I walked out of the Attorneys office realizing that I had just destroyed my life for the second time. Once again I would have my life destroyed because I fought battles that were not my own – the crux of my PTSD.
About a week after my meeting with the Attorney from Kalamazoo, I was contacted by the Co-Chair of the Metropolitan Kalamazoo Chapter of the NAACP Dr. Henry Cohen. Dr. Cohen informed me that Jimmy Johnson had filed a complaint with the NAACP against Meijer and the UFCW951 Local Union for ignoring his grievances. Mr. Johnson provided a statement to the NAACP on how I was forced out of Meijer for being a whistleblower and so Dr. Cohen (on behalf of the NAACP) offered to represent me against Meijer and I took them up on their offer.
As Mr. Johnson and I discuss in the video, the Kalamazoo Chapter of the NAACP allowed Meijer to investigate themselves which turned out to be a farce. The NAACP did however provide us a referral to the Michigan Department of Civil Rights but that turned out to be a farce as well. A pattern emerged where organizations would hear Mr. Johnson and my story and be more then eager to go after Meijer, but as soon as they realized the responsibility of unprocessed grievances rests with the UFCW951 Local Union, they dropped their investigations and refused to communicate any further.
The MDCR did issue me a Notice of Right to Sue Letter that finally triggered a response from Meijer. Meijer Attorney Thomas Miller (who has since resigned from Meijer) informed me that I was entitled to what’s called a Meijer Dispute Resolution Process (DRP) that I knew nothing about. Had I known about the Meijer DRP, I would have implemented it and would have not lost my career as a Store Director.
Meijer denied some of the provisions in the DRP that only left me with mediation and arbitration. I went through the process (without an Attorney) and have been able to gather a significant amount of evidence of collusion between Meijer, the UFCW951 Local Union, the State of Michigan, and the US Justice Department under President Obama.