Recordings have now been made public of former Pilot Flying J President Mark Hazelwood and other company executives making racial and vulgar commentary about the entire population of Cleveland, as well as the Browns, during a meeting with subordinates in October 2012.
U.S. District Court Judge Curtis L. Collier on Wednesday issued two separate orders authorizing the unsealing and release of the recordings and all documents and motions related to the judge’s decision to allow jurors in a recent trial to hear snippets of the conversation.
Hazelwood, who was convicted of conspiracy, wire fraud and witness tampering and faces more than 20 years in prison for luring truckers with discounts on diesel fuel and then cheating them, can be heard with his fellow executives listening to a country song by David Allen Coe titled "N---er F----r" while making racially charged statements.
The executives made racially offensive and disparaging comments about “the entire population of Cleveland, Ohio,” as well as the Cleveland Browns and the city of Oakland, California.
Pilot Flying J Chief Executive Officer Jimmy Haslam, owns the Browns. Haslam has denied knowledge of the fraud scheme and is not charged.
In a statement given to WKYC on Thursday evening, Pilot Flying J released the following:
"As we conveyed in January when the tapes were played in court, we are very disturbed and appalled by the extremely offensive and deplorable comments recorded over 5 years ago involving a small group of former sales employees. This kind of behavior is reprehensible, not tolerated, nor reflective of the guiding principles of Pilot Flying J and does not represent the values of the dedicated 28,000 team members that we have today. As soon as the Company was made aware of these tape recordings, immediate action was taken. The employees who participated were held responsible and are no longer with the Company. No current team member of Pilot Flying J was present or participated in this incident."
Here is a recording of one of the conversations between Hazelwood, ex-Pilot sales executive Brian Mosher, and others that specifically mentions the Cleveland Browns:
You can read the transcript below:
Transcripts of recordings involving former Pilot Flying J President Mark Hazelwood in October 2012 meeting by WKYC.com on Scribd
Listen to Hazelwood and his fellow executives singing along to a country song by David Allen Coe titled "N---er F----r" while making racially charged statements.
You can read the transcript below:
Pilot Flying J CEO Mark Hazelwood, others sing racist song during company retreat by WKYC.com on Scribd
WKYC's Ben Axelrod and Dave DeNatale contributed to this report along with Jamie Satterfield of USA TODAY-Tennessee