Keeping Up with the Pritzkers

 

An aging warehouse at Bardstown Bourbon Company.

Last Friday, a lawsuit was filed in Nelson County in which Sylvia E. Sanders accused Bardstown Bourbon Company (BBC), parent Lofted Spirits, Lofted CEO Mark Erwin, BBC president Peter Marino, Pritzker Private Capital (PPC) Investment Partners and PPC operating partner Christian Brickman of gender discrimination and retaliation. 

Sanders was VP of Human Resources at BBC from 2019 to 2024, when she was dismissed. She claims the company created a hostile work environment for female employees and others. She was fired after she reported “illegal, unethical, discriminatory and improper conduct” by the defendants to company management.

BBC says, “We believe these claims are without merit, and we intend to vigorously defend ourselves.”

In addition to Bardstown Bourbon Company, Lofted Spirits owns Green River Distillery in Owensboro.

I don't know Sanders or any of the principals at BBC except Master Distiller Steve Nally. I know people who know Sanders and think highly of her. Same with her lawyer, James Morris. They describe BBC as a "boy's club." Sanders' suit also accuses BBC of racism.

Erin Petrey, who is running for congress, went on Facebook to express her opinion and share her bad personal experience with BBC founder Peter Loftin. 

This reminds me of the Eboni Majors case, filed in 2022. A blender at Diageo's Bulleit Distillery in Bulleit County, Major alleged in her suit that she was subjected to persistent racial hostility, including pay discrepancies and demeaning treatment by co-workers. She was eventually pushed out of the company.

I can’t improve on the coverage of the BBC story provided by the Lexington Herald Leader. However, in its article, the Herald Leader mentioned that PPC "is owned by Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker and Anthony N. Pritzker." 

On Monday, Hyatt Hotels Executive Chairman Thomas ("Tom") Pritzker announced his resignation after documents released by the Department of Justice revealed his association with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. 

So, it seems like a good time to sort out our Pritzkers. I live in Chicago, so J. B. Pritzker is my governor. I voted for him, twice.

The governor's grandfather, Abram Nicholas Pritzker, was born in 1896, a son of Ukrainian immigrants. His parents settled in Chicago. His father, Nicholas, initially worked as a pharmacist but studied law at DePaul University (as did I) and became a lawyer. Abram (“Abe”) became a lawyer too and joined his father’s firm, along with his brothers Jack and Harry, also lawyers. 

Abe had three sons: Jay, Robert, and Donald. It was Jay who founded the Hyatt Hotels chain, the main source of the family’s fortune. Each of the brothers had several children, many of whom are prominent in business, politics, entertainment, and philanthropy. They are almost all billionaires.

Jay’s children include Tom, the Hyatt executive implicated in the Epstein scandal. Jay's daughter Gigi is a successful film producer.

Robert’s kids are variously accomplished, but none were in the news this week.

That leaves Donald. His kids include Penny, who was Obama’s Secretary of Commerce in his second term. Her brothers are Anthony (“Tony”), who runs PPC, and Jay Robert, better known as J. B., governor of Illinois since 2019. 

In 2002, J. B. and Tony founded PPC, with Tony as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. PPC acquired Bardstown Bourbon Company in 2022 after the death of Loftin, who founded the distillery in 2014.

So, Tony and J. B. are brothers. Tom is their first cousin.

When he became governor, J. B. Pritzker put his assets into a blind trust. That means he makes money off those investments but has no role in decision making. He has nothing to do with management of BBC or any of the other companies owned by PPC. 

As for the BBC case, if the charges are even half true, it represents a serious management failure. You can't change people's prejudices, but you can keep them out of the workplace. You have to. That's not politics, it's just good business. You can't run a successful company if your employees don't feel respected and safe.

We'll be watching with interest.