Brewers Association Approves Code of Conduct for Members

The board of directors of national not-for-profit trade group the Brewers Association (BA) has approved its first ever code of conduct for member breweries after criticism from industry professionals and consumers that it was too often silent in the wake of racist incidents.

“The Code of Conduct codifies our commitment and responsibility as an industry to comply with state and federal regulations and to eliminate discrimination, harassment, and bias of all types,” BA president and CEO Bob Pease wrote in a message to members. “We take our leadership role seriously and recognize that we must be actively anti-racist.”

Criticism of the BA on social media has centered on the association’s “limited public response,” as Pease phrased it in an email to members last month announcing the beginning of the process it would take to create the code of conduct and a complaint process and update its bylaws.

The code of conduct details the BA’s expectations for member behavior in four areas:

  • Compliance with law,
  • Respect for the individual and groups,
  • Responsible alcohol consumption,
  • And responsible alcohol marketing.

Under the code’s respect for individuals and groups section, the BA specifies that members must “treat all individuals and groups respectfully, recognizing their human dignity, regardless of their diverse human characteristics: race, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender expression, age, physical or mental disability, size or appearance, genetic pre-disposition, religion, ancestry, national origin, or veteran status.”

Members must also “contribute to a positive environment that is free of hostile and offensive behaviors; i.e. free from harassment.”

“Harassment means any unwelcome and inappropriate verbal or physical conduct, or coercive behavior, where the behavior is known or reasonably ought to be recognized as unwanted or unwelcome,” the code continued.

The word “environment” could include, but not be limited to, brewery work spaces, public spaces and marketing messaging, BA general counsel Marc Sorini confirmed via a spokesperson.

Despite comprising more than 8,000 breweries, the craft beer industry has long been monolithically white and male. White people comprise 88.4% of brewery owners, 89% of brewers and 90.6% of non-production, non-service staff managers, according to the BA’s 2018 Brewery Operation Benchmarking Survey. Just 1% of brewery owners are Black and only 0.6% of brewers are Black.

Deplorable treatment of Black employees at several breweries has come to light in the past year. Earlier this summer, the CEO of member brewery 56 Brewing, based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, resigned after allegations that he tied a rope to look like a noose and waved it at a Black employee and said, “come here boy,” according to Growler. 56 Brewing confirmed on social media that Kale Johnson, its former CEO, and his wife have divested themselves of their ownership stake in the brewery.

Last fall, Founders Brewing and former employee Tracy Evans reached a settlement in the racial discrimination lawsuit Evans filed against the Grand Rapids, Michigan-based brewery. In the lawsuit, Evans, who is Black, alleged that Founders fostered a “racist internal corporate culture,” one in which several co-workers uttered racial slurs in his presence. Founders, due its majority ownership stake by Mahou San Miguel, is an associate member of the BA.

Despite these incidents, the BA did not have a procedure in its bylaws to revoke membership, and both breweries remain in the fold.

The code of conduct also calls for members to “speak out without fear of retaliation when the actions of others violate the rights of any individuals or groups,” “respect the opinions of others and address conflicts in a positive and constructive manner,” “respect others’ privacy in their personal lives,” and “treat all individuals and groups professionally and respect their personal property.”

Although the code of conduct is the BA’s first for members’ general operations, last year it posted a code of conduct at its events that applied to attendees, exhibitors, sponsors, speakers, vendors, volunteers and staff.

“All communication should be appropriate and inclusive for all audiences including people of diverse backgrounds, sexual orientations and cultures. Sexual language and imagery is not appropriate,” the event code said. “Be kind. Do not insult or defame participants. Harassment in any form, sexist, racist, or exclusionary jokes are not condoned.”

The BA has attempted to police members’ marketing and advertising efforts with the Marketing and Advertising Code it adopted in 2008. The code allows for members to file formal complaints if other members’ marketing and advertising work violates the code. A 2017 revision banned beers with offensive names or labels from using the BA’s intellectual property to tout medals and awards won at the Great American Beer Festival or World Beer Cup.

A similar complaint process is in the works for violations of the code of conduct, Pease wrote.

“The next step in the process to shore up the gaps in our governance documents is to create a member complaint process,” Pease wrote. “The intent of the complaint process is to hold our peers accountable for unacceptable behavior while pursuing an educational path forward that leads to a more inclusive and respectful craft beer community,” Pease wrote.

Once developed, the BA board of directors will review the complaint process and eventually pass that process on to BA members for their own review “in the coming weeks,” Pease added.

Additionally, BA staff will undergo training on structural racism with the Racial Equity Institute on August 26, which Pease called “a step toward building our staff’s collective awareness of the context of structural racism in which we are all operating.”