Read the transcript of this podcast and read the show notes:

Editor’s note: Since this episode was recorded, news broke on Feb. 16 that a judge dismissed Kroger’s motion to have the Seyfried’s lawsuit against the company thrown out. The family’s lawsuit against the company will be allowed to proceed.

Content warning: This episode contains discussion of the topic of suicide.

We kick off Season Six of the show with a very special episode that is dedicated to Evan Seyfried, his family, and his loved ones. As listeners know from our previous conversations with Evan’s family members and their supporters in the Justice for Evan coalition, Evan was a loving son, brother, boyfriend, friend, and a dedicated worker. For 19 years, with a virtually spotless record, Evan worked at a local Kroger grocery store in Milford, Ohio, where he eventually became the dairy department manager. From October 2020 to March 2021, however, according to a lawsuit filed by the Seyfried family, Evan suffered a torturous litany of bullying, harassment, and sabotage at the hands of numerous actors, including management-level supervisors Shannon Frazee and Joseph Pigg, which caused Evan to eventually suffer a “transient episodic break” and take his own life.

We have done our best over the past year and a half to help the Seyfrieds get the justice they deserve, to hold Kroger accountable, and to keep Evan’s story from fading from public view. But we also want to make sure that people remember Evan for the whole, beautiful person he was, for the joy and light he brought into the world, and for the love he showed to those who knew him. February 11 was Evan’s birthday, and we wanted to take this opportunity to give some of that love back. With Evan’s beloved girlfriend Amy Chamberlin and dear friend of the Seyfried family and cofounder of the Justice for Evan coalition Jana Murphy, we pay tribute to Evan by celebrating his life and the beautiful mark he left on this world.

Additional links/info below...

• Justice for Evan Facebook page, Twitter page, and Instagram
• Justice for Evan Billboard Campaign
• Justice for Evan: Kroger Associates Stories (Facebook group)
• Kroger Employees (Facebook group)
• Working People, "Evan Seyfried (w/ Ken, Linda, & Eric Seyfried)"
• Working People, "For Evan (w/ Ken Seyfried, Eric Seyfried, Amy Chamberlin, Erica Erskine, Jana Murphy, & Austin LiPuma)"
• Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "'Justice for Evan': Supporters Demand Accountability from Kroger after 19-Year Employee Allegedly Bullied by Management to Suicide"
• Maximillian Alvarez, Breaking Points, "Max Alvarez: A DEADLY, Silent Epidemic of Workplace Abuse is Growing"
• Maximillian Alvarez, Breaking Points, "Lawsuit Says Kroger Management Bullied Worker Into Taking His Own Life"

Permanent links below...

• Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
• Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
• In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
• The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)

• Jules Taylor, "Working People Theme Song

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