Page 18 - Florida Sentinel 4-5-16 Edition

National
Young Entrepreneur Gets Her Lemonade Placed In Whole Foods Stores
Mikaila Ulmer and her lemonade are ready for the shelves.
Roscoe’s Chicken & Waffles Files Bankruptcy After Losing Lawsuit
LOS ANGELES, CA —
Roscoe’s Chicken & Waffles,
one of LA’s oldest and most popular Black-owned restau- rant chains, has just filed for bankruptcy after losing a racial discrimination and wrongful termination lawsuit last year in the amount of $3.2 million dol- lars. In filings with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Califor- nia, East Coast Foods, which owns the restaurant chain, es- timated that it has debts be- tween $10 million and $50 million. Its assets, on the other hand, total less than $50,000.
According to CBS News, the lawsuit was filed by an African American employee named Daniel Beasley who says he was a victim of different forms of racial discrimination by His- panic employees who manage the restaurant chain’s Pico Blvd location. He accused the company of giving Latino em- ployees preferential treatment over black workers, including better schedules and shifts.
Beasley’s claims against the 40-year family-owned business included unfair treat- ment/ discrimination in the workplace, issues with shift scheduling, and wrongful ter- mination after he complained to the HR Department and the owners. Meanwhile, loyal cus- tomers and tourists are won- dering if the restaurant chain will be able to stay afloat. Founded in 1975 by entrepre- neur Herb Hudson, a Harlem, NY native, the chain has 7 loca- tions in Southern California. As reported last week, rap- per/businessman, Snoop Dogg is looking into purchas- ing the chain.
Family Business Goes To The Top After Landing Major Deal With Lowes And Walmart
Chevalo and Monique Wilsondebriano and their children.
AUSTIN, TX --- When Mikaila Ulmer was 4-years- old she was stung by a honey bee twice in the same week. The Austin, Texas sixth grader soon began to fear bees, but later did research and learned they’re actually an asset.
From there Mikaila began selling her BeeSweet Lemon- ade, which comes from her great grandmother’s flaxseed recipe and is sweetened with honey from local bees. Accord- ing to reports Mikaila and her family started off small, brewing her lemonade for local events, then bottled and sold it at pizza shop and within a few years, BeeSweet Lemon- ade was off the ground.
Mikaila and her father even appeared on ABC’s hit show Shark Tank and walked away with a $60,000 invest- ment. After appearing on the show, Whole Foods soon
learned of her efforts and the young entrepreneur and food retail giant struck up a deal which places her sweet drink on the shelves of 55 stores in Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma and Louisiana.
What makes this story even sweeter is knowing Mikaila donates a portion of her profits to organizations that help counter the dwindling honey- bee population. Whole Foods hasn’t released the dollar amount of her contract, but if her lemonade does well, it will be featured in other stores across the United States.
Despite being a business woman at just 11, Mikaila says she receives help from her family and works on the com- pany after finishing her school work. Her mother is adamant about making sure her daugh- ter still gets to be a kid.
CHARLESTON, SC — Chevalo and Monique Wilsondebriano, owners of Charleston Gourmet Burger Company, have overcome major obstacles and have hit it big by landing a major deal with Lowe’s Home Improve- ment and Walmart.
Chevalo, a former FDNY EMS First Responder, sur- vived the second World Trade Center tower collapse on Sep- tember 11, 2011. His wife, Monique, was formerly a sin- gle mother of two teenagers in high school. Three years ago, the two together took a leap of faith by creating a unique backyard burger recipe, and pitching it to major retailers. And they have found huge suc- cess!
Their Gourmet Burger Mari- nade and Sauce has grown from being a staple at local farmer’s markets to being sold
in select Whole Foods Mar- kets, Harris Teeter Supermar- kets, Cost Plus World Market, Costco Wholesale Club, Mili- tary Commissaries, Sam’s Club, and several other retail- ers. But their latest deal lands their products in 543 Lowe’s Home Improvement stores around the country, as well as 44 select Walmart stores in the southeast and online.
Chevalo says that every- thing in his life changed after 9/11. “Having lost friends and 343 co-workers that day, I look at my life now as a second chance to do something great.” Both Chevalo and Monique regularly give back by mentor- ing budding entrepreneurs.
For more information about their company and/or to see a list of stores that sell their products, visit www.charlestongourmet- burger.com
HBCU Professor Fired After Sex Tape With Students Found
Longtime News Anchor Is Fired For Racist Comments On Facebook
HUNTSVILLE, AL --- Ala- bama A&M University fired a tenured professor in March after the school discovered videos of him participating in sexual activity with two stu- dents on campus, according to court documents.
The school severed ties with Edward Jones, who has worked more than 20 years at Alabama A&M. Most recently, he worked as director of Office of Teacher Education and Cer- tification.
According to court docu- ments filed in federal court by Alabama A&M, videos of Jones were discovered on a school laptop that recorded the professor in three sex acts, in- cluding twice having oral sex with two different male stu- dents. All three instances oc- curred on the Alabama A&M campus, the school said.
Jones filed a lawsuit against Alabama A&M in February after the school began termina- tion proceedings after what the lawsuit described as years of harassment when Jones at- tempted to bring to light ad- ministrative issues and concerns.
Jones’ attorney, Lee Loder, declined to comment on the case beyond the lawsuit.
PITTSBURGH, PA --- A prominent Pittsburgh journal- ist is without a job this morn- ing after she wrote a Facebook post condemning young Black men.
Wendy Bell, formerly of WTAE-TV, took to Facebook this week to address a mas- sacre in the city that left four dead and claimed that the sus- pects were likely “young black men in their early 20s with multiple siblings from multi- ple fathers.
She then went on to talk about a young black boy who pleasantly surprised her by doing decent job of tending to tables at a restaurant
On March 21, Bell posted on Facebook about a shooting at a cookout that left five peo- ple dead, including a pregnant woman and her unborn child. While no arrests have been made in the March 9 mas- sacre, Bell, who is white, said
Wendy Bell’s Facebook post got her fired.
it didn’t take a “criminal pro- filer to draw a mental sketch of the killers.”
On Wednesday, Bell told AP, she wasn’t given a “fair- shake” from the station.
“It makes me sick,” she told AP. “What matters is what’s going on in America, and it is the death of black people in this country.”
EDWARD JONES
The videos were found on a school laptop recovered at Jones’ home after Huntsville police and Alabama A&M po- lice executed a search warrant, according to court documents. Once the videos were discov- ered, Alabama A&M informed Jones he would be fired.
According to a memo from Alabama A&M police investiga- tor Brian Ruble, two of the videos were made in 2011 and the third in 2012. Jones pre- viously received a letter outlin- ing the school’s intention to terminate him after sexually- graphic photos were discovered on the professor’s work com- puter.
PAGE 18 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY TUESDAY, APRIL 5, 2016