Chick-fil-A responds after Maryland employee put racial slur on black man’s receipt, says he wrote down name he heard

A person who visited a Chick-fil-A restaurant in Maryland said management didn’t respond appropriately to an incident through which an employee allegedly wrote a racial slur on his receipt.

Marquise Vanzego wrote a post on Facebook about his experience visiting a Chick-fil-A restaurant in La Plata, Maryland.

Vanzego said he visited the restaurant’s drive-thru on Aug. 23 and told the young, white crew member taking his order that the name of the order was “Marquise.” However, when Vanzego drove up to select up his food, the word “Monkeys” was printed on the receipt.

Vanzego immediately reported the incident and recorded a conversation with the manager within the drive-thru, who apologised and said there was “no excuse” for the offence before refunding him for his order.

“This racist and degrading label is not only deeply offensive, but also humiliating to a 52-year-old African American adult,” Vanzego said. he wrote on Facebook. “The very pain I feel when I see that word takes me back to a painful history where my ancestors endured the same inhumane racism that was meant to strip them of their dignity. The fact that such a disgusting slur was used so freely in this day and age is a stark reminder that the trauma of that time is still very much alive.”

Another video Vanzego posted shows him entering a restaurant to attempt to refer to an employee who wrote a slur on a receipt. The manager tells him he cannot refer to the employee but hands him a business card with the name and get in touch with information of the placement’s general manager.

In a follow-up conversation with Vanzego’s CEO, he said he was told management would speak to the employee accountable for the receipt and “begged him… not to let this incident go viral.”

“I have not received a response from (the CEO) and this type of response does not help to alleviate the pain and embarrassment I have experienced due to this incident,” Vanzego said.

Vanzego said he also spoke with the shop owner, who apologized but showed “no compassion” or cultural sensitivity in response to the incident. The owner reportedly told Vanzego that the employee accountable for the receipt had made a mistake when writing down the name and that he wouldn’t be fired.

“When I asked (the store owner) if the team member who took my order was going to be fired, he said, ‘No, I talked to him. He’s 17 and he told me he wrote the name he thought he heard you say, so I support him and I’m not going to fire him,’” Vanzego said.

Vanzego said he often visits Chick-fil-A restaurants several times per week and the incident caused him “significant mental distress and trauma.”

“The situation is deeply distressing and it is unacceptable that anyone should have to endure such an experience, especially the business they support,” Vanzego wrote.

A Chick-fil-A spokesperson told Atlanta Black Star that the restaurant is “independently franchised and operated. The franchisee for this restaurant has apologized to the guest. However, this experience falls short of our expectations and is unacceptable.”