Apollo Milling sues USW local, saying ad made company appear to be racist

Tribune-Review (Pittsburgh Area) ^ | 25 August 2016 | Jason Bridge

[Vigilanteman]

A Facebook page that made it appear the Apollo Milling Co. promoted racism against blacks shopping at the North Apollo animal supply store has sparked a lawsuit by the owner of the business founded in 1849.

“I was dumbfounded,” owner Dennis Reefer said about the page he contends was created in October by a member of the United Steelworkers of America Local 1196 because Reefer refused to publicly support the group during its bitter labor dispute with Allegheny Technologies Inc.

The Facebook page showed a doctored photo of the Apollo Milling Co. facade with a placard outside that read: “Coloreds Welcome, please use back door,” according to the lawsuit filed by Reefer this week in Westmoreland County court.

The defamation lawsuit seeks in excess of $30,000 from Steelworkers member Terry Stinson of New Kensington and Local 1196. Stinson said Wednesday he had not seen the lawsuit and couldn't comment.

“They tried to label us as racist, and it was kind of beyond the pale. I was outraged,” Reefer said. “Until it got taken down, when you Googled ‘Apollo Milling,' that is what came up.

[Vigilanteman]

Good for Mr. Reefer! Yeah, it was just a fake Facebook post, but it was vengeful and damaging to a legitimate business owner just trying to earn an honest living. The union thugs deserve to be hit in the pocketbook big time.

This is a local story with national implications.

For those of you outside of Pittsburgh, Apollo is one of the larger suburbs to the northeast.

[PAR35]

He’s unlikely to get justice in the Obama era, and he’ll need to start checking the brake lines on the family cars before driving.

Maybe the union thugs will let him off easy with a beating and slashed tires, but I wouldn’t count on it.