Remember nine days ago, when Beer Study announced that it was expanding in Durham—and that its Durham expansion would include the first Durham iteration of Al’s Burger Shack?

So much for that.

Tonight, Beer Study announced on Facebook that Al’s is no longer part of the plan.

“We’ve gotten a lot of questions regarding the participation of Al’s Burger Shack in our upcoming expansion,” Beer Study wrote. “In light of recent events, we have decided to go in a different direction for the food program. We will share updates on this page and The Boot Room page, so stay tuned. Thanks for your patience here.”

The post doesn’t make clear what “recent events” refers to. Last week, Al’s filed for bankruptcy, having overextended during the course of an expansion over the past few years, so perhaps that’s it. Or, well, it could be something else.

A likely culprit seems to be this post, from the Orange County Rape Crisis Center yesterday, in which it announced that it had cut ties with Al’s owner Al Bowers.

“On January 10, 2020, the OCRCC was alerted that public accusations of sexual harassment had been made against Al Bowers, local business owner and business sponsor of the Orange County Rape Crisis Center. While we do not typically comment publicly on local cases, our affiliation with the accused compels us to do so. … We recognize that our public association with Mr. Bowers compromises our ability to be a safe space for all, and for this reason we have decided to cut ties with Mr. Bowers and his businesses.”

Read the entire post here:

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Beer Study did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Saturday night.

Contact editor in chief Jeffrey C. Billman at jbillman@indyweek.com.

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