Todd Clausen

@ToddJClausen

Wegmans Food Markets reverses decision to deny service to the Ex-Muslims of North America.

Workers at a store in Fairfax, Virginia, took offense with group's name, according to leaders.

Wegmans Food Markets has done it again, fixing an issue raised by one of its customers.

The all-everything, 89-store chain recently reversed a somewhat odd decision by some bakery workers in Fairfax, Virginia.

It's where employees earlier this month refused to make a cake celebrating the third anniversary of the Ex-Muslims of North America, a nonprofit group of former followers of Islam with about 500 members in the Fairfax area. The group has about 24,000 total members.

The cake was to include the group’s name, logo and a celebratory "Congratulations on 3 years" message.

But a worker found the order somewhat questionable. A supervisor went a step further claiming it was offensive, the Ex-Muslim group said. They decided to refuse service, and offered little explanation for their decision.

It wasn't the message or the mirrored crescent moons of the logo that drew concern. It was the name Ex-Muslims of North America that was so bothersome.

The decision didn’t sit well with the group.

"There are some, however, who take our very existence as an affront to their faith, and to them I have only this to say: We have every right to exist and be proud of who we are," Muhammad Syed, president of the group, said in an online posting. "There is nothing about our name or logo that can be considered offensive to any reasonable individual."

Andrew Seidel, an attorney from the Wisconsin-based Freedom from Religion Foundation, wrote a letter to Wegmans on June 20 calling attention to the issue, describing it as a potential civil rights violation.

Businesses can't deny service to someone based on their religious identity, Seidel argued. It's discriminatory and illegal in the same way bars, restaurants and other venues can’t refuse service to someone based on race or sexual identity, he said.

"We are one of the most maligned groups in the country and this was another example of that," Seidel told me in a phone interview about the Ex-Muslims of North America.

Sadly, cakes and other tasty treats have become a new battleground for overzealousness and individual fights in recent years.

A Colorado bakery has been under investigation for refusing to write anti-gay messages on a cake. An Oregon bakery was ordered to pay $135,000 in an anti-discrimination case for refusing to sell a cake to a same-sex couple for their wedding.

There was a pastor in Texas who accused Whole Foods of giving him a cake with a homophobic slur that read, "Love Wins F--." It turned out to be a hoax. He apologized. Both parties dropped their lawsuits last month.

In Fairfax, Wegmans wasn't going to let the decision to deny service stand.

Trying to do the right thing is one of the reason why the company has topped several lists for customer and workplace satisfaction, although the Occupational Safety and Health Administration came down on it again last week, faulting the company for failing to properly train a worker who broke multiple bones in her arm while cleaning a machine at the grocer's Brooks Avenue site.

Wegmans facing $140K fine after workplace injury

But Wegmans tries to fix issues and is fairly transparent about those fixes. Its Twitter feed is full of examples.

After corporate found out, the cake order was filled for the Ex-Muslims of North America. Workers were coached on other ways to better handle the situation, if something similar arises again.

"It was the wrong decision," Jo Natale, a company spokeswoman, said in an email. "We should have made the cake. The decision to not fill this cake order was made at the store level by a well-intentioned employee, who was trying to act in the best interest of a diverse employee population."

Seidel said Wegmans was quick to act, adding that it's "nice to see when you write to a group and they act and take it seriously."

It's also a good lesson for any small-business owner and its workers.

If you deny service, you need a better reason than that.

Todd Clausen is the work life reporter for the Democrat and Chronicle. Email him at TCLAUSEN@Gannett.com or call (585) 258-9883.