A former employee is speaking out against one of the owners of Vancouver Candle Co. after the company came under fire for a series of racist, disturbing texts.
The Vancouver-based candle company has come under fire for a series of racist and threatening messages that a local sales agency says it received from the company's co-owner, Nick Rabuchin.
Over the weekend, the Warner McDaniel Agency shared a series of screenshots in an Instagram post that they say contain conversations with Rabuchin of Vancouver Candle Co. The messages contain disturbing and hateful racist language.
A number of companies that Vancouver Candle Co. has worked with have responded in anger, sadness, and shock.
Now, Nicolette Zoric, Rabuchin's former assistant, is coming forward to call out her former employer. In an Instagram post, she writes that she has seen first hand how, "sick this individual is and how he spent no time bad mouthing anyone who came upon him."
Zoric also shares a series of texts that she says Rabuchin sent her. One of them reads, "You have no idea how much I want to slam your [expletive] face into the ground, do you?" and the next one tells her to watch out.
In an email, Zoric tells Vancouver Is Awesome that she cannot fully speak to her past experience with Rabuchin due to a Non-Disclosure Agreement. However, she says that she did suffer mentally for a couple of months after she resigned from Vancouver Candle Co.
"All I can say is that I suffered mentally for a couple months after resignation - was still being contacted with hateful messages by him personally and with a fake account and then sent that death threat in November. No apology," she writes.
In her post, Zoric adds that, "Never would have thought that he was capable of so much hate until I got "anonymous" threatening messages in November (having a gut feeling it may be him) I let those messages slide. Until yesterday - having discovered I was not the only victim to his November psychotic rampage."
;;l;ll;l;l;l;l;
On Monday, June 8, Vancouver Candle Co. apologized for, "any hurtful, inappropriate or racial comments," but adds that "there's many things that the original post by Warner McDaniel Agency does not disclose, most of which, due to ongoing litigation since 2019, we are not able to speak to."
Today, the company shared an image that reads, "I f**cked up." Co-owner Rabuchin also authored a caption that accompanies the image, which states, "I said things that are unacceptable, hurtful and contrary to the values of our company. Racism has never been and will never be tolerated at Vancouver Candle Co. My past words are not reflective of what we stand for as a company."
In addition to stating that he is "ashamed and embarrassed, Rabuchin says that he is stepping down from the company: "My partner and I agree that it is best that I step away from Vancouver Candle Co, so the company can continue doing what it does best, without the distractions that I caused. I will take time to focus on becoming a better person, including taking sensitivity training, and I will continue to listen and learn. I promise to do better."
The company's other co-owner is Farouk Babel, Rabuchin's partner.
Retail giant Chapters Indigo states that it will pull all of Vancouver Candle Company's products from its online site and stores.
Nordstrom Canada also carries the candle company, and it responded to a comment on an Instagram post last night calling for it to remove the product, writing: Nordstrom does not tolerate discrimination of any kind and this extends to our partners. We take this seriously and are looking into these claims. - Lauren."
V.I.A. has reached out to Vancouver Candle Co. for comment and will update the story when information becomes available.
