Dear Friends,
La Marzocco has always valued its culture and openness to the community as a whole. This week, one of our former employees reported that racist and offensive statements were made by more than one of our employees. We are investigating the assertions made in the post and will take appropriate action based on our findings.
Regardless of our review, we deeply apologize to the black community, the coffee industry and to the community at large for the alleged statements by La Marzocco employees.
La Marzocco is sorry, moreover, for the undeserved emotional stress caused to the individuals in the post including Jenn Chen and Michelle Johnson. We will be reaching out to them directly.
La Marzocco is open to all, independently of race, religion and gender, and adheres to and promotes values of equality, diversity, and respect. La Marzocco agrees with and stands with the movement taking place in the USA, which aims to dismantle racism. La Marzocco welcomes all to visit at any of its locations around the globe to engage in open conversation with us. La Marzocco is committed to developing sensitivity programs and reinforcing its policy.
Here are the steps we are committed to today and moving forward:
- We have opened an internal investigation to determine where issues may exist with the aim to find solutions to ensure any findings are addressed.
- Evolve policies with actionable and enforceable consequences regarding the conduct and behavior of all global La Marzocco employees.
- Appoint a high-level committee trained in diversity and inclusion with authority to develop reviews, hiring practices and training for global La Marzocco employees.
- Implement Diversity and Inclusion training courses at all global locations.
- Develop an ongoing review of our Diversity and Inclusion actions to ensure we are consistent with our values now and into the future.
Thank you for your business and support. It is because of you that we have had our success and we feel the responsibility to continue to earn your trust and respect moving forward.
Guido Bernardinelli,
CEO La Marzocco