‘Indefensible behavior’ claim prompts Chicago’s Cicerone Certification Program to suspend employee as beer industry reckons with sweeping sexual harassment allegations

Chicago Tribune - 5/19/2021

The Chicago-based Cicerone Certification Program — which certifies beer professionals globally — has suspended an employee accused of what it calls “indefensible behavior” amid a recent torrent of allegations of sexual abuse and harassment in the beer industry.

The Cicerone Certification Program, which teaches and certifies knowledge of beer and beer service akin to sommelier certification for wine professionals, did not name the employee or describe the alleged behavior.

But on an Instagram account that has been detailing dozens of allegations of industry harassment and abuse, a message was posted Friday from an unnamed person who said a Cicerone employee solicited multiple female workers at an unnamed brewery for sex during a holiday party.

The person alleges the Cicerone employee, who had assisted with certification programs earlier in the day, approached women coming out of the bathroom, and asked for sex in the men’s bathroom. The person also alleges the Cicerone employee “had hold of the sleeve of my jacket,” apparently while propositioning her.

The Chicago Tribune is not naming the Cicerone employee because the allegations have not been vetted or substantiated.

On multiple social media accounts Tuesday, the Cicerone Certification Program said the employee has been suspended and an investigation has begun regarding that person’s behavior. On Wednesday, Cicerone Certification Program founder Ray Daniels declined to comment about the alleged incident “until (the) investigation is complete.”

The Cicerone Certification Program, which stages trainings and testing across the nation and in multiple countries, has hired a Chicago lawyer to investigate the claims. The organization said the investigation will not be confined “to just this event, any one individual, or a defined period of time.”

Daniels said he could not predict how long the investigation would last.

“While we have expressed a sense of urgency to the investigator, we are aligned in our belief that doing it right is more important than doing it fast,” he said.

The suspension and investigation come amid a broader industry discussion sparked last week by a Massachusetts brewer who has collected allegations of sexism and hostile behavior toward women in the beer industry, which the brewer has shared on her Instagram account.

The avalanche of response has included named and unnamed allegations and led to a public reckoning. The fallout includes the founder of California’s Modern Times Beer announcing his resignation as chief executive officer Tuesday night; the founder of Pennsylvania’s Tired Hands Brewing stepping away from the company; and the founder of Vermont’s renowned Hill Farmstead Brewery issuing a statement denying allegations made against him while also calling them “unsettling.”

The suspension and investigation by the Cicerone Certification Program is the first such response in Chicago’s burgeoning beer industry.

“We realize many of you are disappointed in our program for allowing this to happen on our watch, and for not doing more to promote a safe environment for all in our industry,” the Cicerone Certification Program said in its post. “We feel and share your disappointment. Looking to the long-term, we will use what we learn to take corrective action internally, make amends with our community, and incorporate feedback. It is our hope and anticipation to set a much better example for everyone within our sphere of influence.”

The public reckoning began May 11, when Brienne Allan, a brewer for Notch Brewing in Salem, Massachusetts, issued “an offhand request for women’s stories about experiencing sexism in the beer industry,” according to an article in VinePair, an alcoholic beverage-focused news and review site.

The outpouring of response, VinePair said, has sent “shockwaves across the industry.”

Though at the top of her Instagram account, Allan says, “THESE STORIES ARE NOT MINE AND I DO NOT VOUCH FOR THEIR ACCURACY,” an online fundraising campaign was started to pay potential legal fees for posting the allegations. The effort has raised nearly $20,000 as of Wednesday morning.

Launched in 2007 in the basement of Daniels’ Ravenswood home, the Cicerone Certification Program has grown into a global industry leader in codifying beer industry knowledge and practices.

Now housed in an office building also in Ravenswood, the program says it has certified 135,000 people worldwide. The vast majority are certified beer servers who pass an online course; and a smaller percentage are Certified Cicerones, Advanced Cicerones or Master Cicerones, all of which are affirmed through intensive in-person testing.

jbnoel@chicagotribune.com

What to eat. What to watch. What you need to live your best life ... now. Sign up for our Eat. Watch. Do. newsletter here.