BY BEN VERDE
A member of the Park Slope
Food Co-Op is suing the famously
liberal grocer in federal
court, accusing management
of suspending him without a
hearing for playing “Black music”
and “having too much fun”
during his shift.
Reginald Ferguson, a member
of the Union Street co-op
for over 20 years, says that
the organic food emporium’s
leadership issued the raciallycharged
suspension in 2017,
which kicked off a years-long
campaign to have the matter
settled in an internal hearing
— which, he says, the co-op has
yet to grant.
When a member of the coop
made the comment lamenting
his choice of music during
Ferguson’s time as a shift manager,
the issue went before the
co-op’s “Dispute Resolution
Squad” — but that made matters
worse, as a representative
backed up the complaint, and
took issue with Ferguson’s
joyousness.
In the intervening years,
Ferguson’s held protests outside
the supermarket to no avail, as
he’s consistently been denied
his day in quasi-court.
Now, he’s heading to actual
court, fundraising to hire
a lawyer and bring a federal
suit after the managers of the
socialist food seller forced his
hand, he says.
“It’s not that I’m taking it
this far — it’s that the co-op is
taking it this far,” he said.
Ferguson, who is Black, says
his treatment is part of a larger
pattern of discrimination felt
by other people of color at the
famously liberal co-op, as evidenced
COURIER L 6 IFE, FEB. 26-MAR. 4, 2021
by the Instagram page
“Black at PSFC” which details
the experiences of non-white
co-op members.
“For all its seemingly noble
values, I don’t think the co-op
leadership gives a s— about
enacting them and making the
PSFC a truly equitable place,”
reads one post on the account.
Ferguson, a member of the
local Community Board 6, says
he has waged this battle to highlight
the experiences of other
Black co-op members.
“I would be remiss if I didn’t
do this for all the voices who
haven’t had the guts, or the
wherewithal, or the endurance
to fi ght against this organization
which consistently rubs
people of color down to a nub,”
he said.
Among his experiences, Ferguson
says, was a member of
the co-op’s DRC, which Ferguson
described as an “overzealous
law enforcement body” yelling
in his face during a general
meeting before storming out.
“The guy went face to face
CO-OPTING THE MESSAGE: Reginald Ferguson (pictured) is suing the
Park Slope Food Co-Op over his suspension. Photo by Caroline Ourso
with me for 15 seconds and then
walked away,” he said.
Joe Holtz, the co-op’s general
manager, did not return a message
seeking comment.
Racial discrimination at
the Food Co-Op is a particularly
bemusing phenomenon
at Park Slope’s unique mecca
of food-based communism, as
members have often used the
platform granted to them from
working shift at the grocery
store to wade into hot-button
national and international issues
— including the Israeli-
Palestinian confl ict and opposition
to the apartheid regime in
South Africa.
Since it was founded in 1973,
the Food Co-Op has consistently
brandished its reputation
as notoriously liberal, even
within the liberal bastion of
Park Slope, making Ferguson’s
charges of racial unrest a sore
point — but, he says, members
shouldn’t be surprised, as many
Black members have seen similar
discrimination.
“What has happened to me
is no different than what has
happened to a lot of people who
look like me,” he said.
FOOD FIGHT!
Park Slope Food Co-Op member sues grocer
over suspension, claiming racial discrimination
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