Less than a week after Golden Krust CEO Lowell Hawthorne shot and killed himself in his Bronx, N.Y., factory, the Caribbean bakery-and-restaurant chain was hit with a wage lawsuit brought by two former employees.

Golden Krust CEO Lowell Hawthorne’s unabashed capitalist optimism feels out of step in a time of emboldened anti-black resentment. Still, when the businessman spoke to the Jamaican Observer as recently as October, he echoed the belief of many West Indian transplants—the blind hope that the American dream can be…

Many in the black and Caribbean communities reeled over news of the recent apparent suicide of Lowell Hawthorne, founder and CEO of Golden Krust Bakery & Grill, with commentary ranging from the proverbial “Money cannot buy happiness” to true befuddlement: “Why would he do it?”

Lowell Hawthorne, the founder and CEO of the Golden Krust Caribbean Bakery & Grill, most famous for its Jamaican beef patties, has died of an apparent suicide, according to law enforcement. He was 57 years old.