Statement Regarding Article about Jose "Pepe" Fanjul and Florida Crystals Corporation

On September 29, 2016, we published an article on our Hatewatch blog entitled “The Real Pepe?  Wealthy Trump Fundraiser’s Assistant Attends KKK Rally.”  At the request of Mr. Fanjul and Florida Crystals Corporation we have deleted the article.  We strive to be completely accurate in our reporting. 

In this instance, although we accurately reported that a multi-million dollar summary judgment had been entered against Florida Crystals Corporation based on its alleged wage shortages paid to its migrant workers, we did not accurately report that the judgment was reversed on appeal and that the company prevailed during two subsequent trials of the workers’ claims. We also identified Chloe Black as Mr. Fanjul’s executive assistant while employed at Florida Crystals Corporation. Although Ms. Black is a long-term employee of Florida Crystals Corporation, Mr. Fanjul states that she has never served as his executive assistant.

He also states that while neither he nor Florida Crystals sympathize with or support any of the organizations that we criticized in our article, the Fanjuls and their companies do not now and have not discriminated against employees based upon their political, religious, or social views. We regret these errors.