NORFOLK, Va. — Norfolk's O’Connor Brewing Company is temporarily closed following accusations of racism and sexism in the workplace.
“We are sorry for what had happened," said brewery owner Kevin O'Connor.
“A lot of the accusations, again, were things that we thought we handled properly through our processes and handbook and things like that," O'Connor said. "We may have failed. There were some things that were posted about us. Things I didn't know about until way after and that's my fault and I'll take the blame on that."
O'Connor explained where the post came from.
“There have been two Instagram posts leading the charge with women in the industry. It gave a platform for anonymity to be able to share your stories," he said.
According to The Virginian Pilot, the Instagram page “Embolden Act Advance” is where the accusations were posted. The profile says it’s a place to share stories of harassment in the alcohol industry.
The Pilot cites a former employee named Gracie Stackhouse, who posted lengthy accusations of racism and sexism toward O’Connor Brewing Company.
O’Connor said after those accusations came out, he's quickly added new training.
“We’re going to be doing sexual harassment, sexism, racism in the workplace training and that’s going to be ongoing as well. And the last thing we’re going to be doing is we’re going to do a culture survey of the company," he said.
O’Connor added he wants to open a dialogue with former and current employees and he hopes he can gain his customers' trust back too.
“I hope the community can give me a second chance and give my team one more chance," said O'Connor.
On Tuesday, the brewery will be closed because staff will start their first diversity and inclusion training.
13News Now reached out to the woman who posted the accusations on the Instagram page and have not heard a response at this time.