Whole Foods at war with pastor over OTHER F-word

A homosexual pastor who claims a Whole Foods cake he purchased came with a slur against the LGBT community now faces a counter-lawsuit.

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Jordan Brown of Church of Open Doors in Austin, Texas, filed a lawsuit against the popular grocery chain after his "Love Wins" cake allegedly came with the addition of the word "F--" in blue icing.

A YouTube video posted by Kaplan Law Firm PLLC on Monday shows the word written in different piping and handwriting. Brown also claimed his cake came with a barcode on the side of its box, although security footage released by Whole Foods shows a cashier quickly scanning the top of the container.

"Saying f-- is the same as calling me a n---er," Brown said at a news conference announcing his lawsuit on Monday, KXAN 21 reported.

A homosexual pastor from Austin, Texas, claims a baker at Whole Foods added a slur to his "Love Wins" cake. The company denies the allegation and plans on filing a counter-lawsuit (Photo: KXAN-6 screenshot)

Whole Foods' lawsuit indicates a high degree of confidence that Brown is the one who essentially called himself a "f--" for shakedown purposes or publicity.

In addition to producing security footage of Brown's purchase, the company says its baker is a member of the LGBT community.

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Whole Foods' full statement issued on Monday reads:

After a deeper investigation of Mr. Brown’s claim, we believe his accusations are fraudulent and we intend to take legal action against both Mr. Brown and his attorney. Here’s what we know:

Our bakery team member wrote "Love Wins" at the top of the cake, which was visible to Mr. Brown through the clear portion of the packaging. That's exactly how the cake was packaged and sold at the store. Whole Foods Market has a strict policy that prohibits team members from accepting or designing bakery orders that include language or images that are offensive.

Mr. Brown admits that he was in sole possession and control of the cake until he posted his video, which showed the UPC label on the bottom and side of the box.

After reviewing our security footage of Mr. Brown, it's clear that the UPC label was in fact on top of the cake box, not on the side of the package. This is evident as the cashier scans the UPC code on top of the box, which you can view here.

We stand behind our bakery team member, who is part of the LGBTQ community, and we appreciate the team members and shoppers who recognize that this claim is completely false and directly contradicts Whole Foods Market’s inclusive culture, which celebrates diversity.

Yours Truly, Whole Foods Market

Readers of the NBC affiliate overwhelmingly sided with Whole Foods.

Whole Foods security footage shows an employee scanning a bar code on the top of Jordan Brown's "Love Wins" cake. Brown claimed in a YouTube video that his cake came with a bar code attached to the side

"I am very liberal and have lived in Austin for 25 years, and this sounds like BS," said reader Sean C. on Tuesday.

"Whole Foods is a lawyered-up corporation. If they thought there was any doubt about this they'd be very cautious and wishy-washy in their statements at this point," added another reader. "They've talked to the decorator (who is LGBT) and other employees, and they're basically saying, 'Bring it on.' That's contrary to corporate culture unless they know they're right and they're looking forward to making this guy look like a fool."

Pastor Jordan Brown of Church of Open Doors holds a press conference on his "Love Wins" cake in Austin, Texas

Whole Foods rarely courts controversy, but when it has it tends to come out on top. In 2009 and 2013 its CEO, John Mackey, angered liberal customers by criticizing Obamacare. Mackey first likened the president's signature legislation to socialism in 2009 and then revised his analysis in 2013 during an interview with NPR.

"It's more like fascism," Mackey said in January 2013. "In fascism, the government doesn’t own the means of production, but they do control it – and that's what's happening with our health care programs and these reforms."

Many Whole Foods customers threatened to boycott, but the effort soon fizzled.