Chipotle rethinking firing manager who refused to serve black customers over ‘dine and dash’ fears

[TheGoverness]

Article Here.

The restaurant chain Chipotle announced Saturday that it had terminated one of its managers for suggesting in a viral video that five black customers were planning to order food without paying -- but on Sunday, the company acknowledged to Fox News that it was considering re-hiring the manager because her suspicions may have been well-founded.

In a series of video clips seen more than 3 million times on Twitter, a Chipotle customer in St. Paul, Minn., identifed as 21-year-old Masud Ali, and several friends are told by a manager: "You gotta pay, because you’ve never had money when you come in here.” An employee adds, "We're not gonna make food unless you guys actually have money."

As Ali and his friends complain about "stereotypes," the videos show employees at the store claiming that the group had previously ordered food on two occasions without paying. The store manager also calls the police in the videos, which were recorded and uploaded by Ali.

In one video clip, the manager smiles and tries to ignore the men while they produce what appears to be cash, as proof that they can pay for their food. One of the employees visible in the kitchen is black.

"It sounded really racist — the way she said it was racist,” Ali told Minnesota's Star Tribune newspaper on Friday. “She asked for proof of income as if I’m getting a loan.” On Twitter, Ali asked Chipotle: "Can a group of young well-established African-American get a bite to eat after a long workout session?”

Ali also posted the restaurant's phone number and address to social media. Within hours and under a deluge of criticism, Chipotle issued a statement implying that the manager had acted out of bias and announcing her termination.

But on Sunday, as tweets emerged showing that Ali had apparently made a habit of stealing from restaurants, Chipotle walked back its decision.

"Our actions were based on the facts known to us immediately after the incident, including video footage, social media posts and conversations with the customer, manager, and our employees," Chipotle Chief Communications Officer Laurie Schalow told Fox News on Sunday. "We now have additional information which needs to be investigated further. We want to do the right thing, so after further investigation we will re-train and re-hire if the facts warrant it."

Despite reports on Twitter late Sunday that the manager had received her job back, Chipotle confirmed to Fox News that "nothing has changed from this morning. We are still investigating a few things."

This is a good example of when outrage culture backfires and hurts innocent people. This woman was 100% in the right in this situation. This asshole and his buddies go around doing this all the time, and had done this at this Chipotle multiple times. But when the manager doesn't put up with their **** anymore, he cries "racism" because he knows that'll get him attention. And it certainly did, because she got terminated within hours of him making a fuss about it. In an effort to try and prevent their reputation from being marred, they made a horribly rash decision. And now they're probably gonna end up hurting for it. I hope the manager gets her job back, or at the very least gets some kind of apology from Chipotle (money?).

 

[Lovebug]

Article Here.



This is a good example of when outrage culture backfires and hurts innocent people. This woman was 100% in the right in this situation. This asshole and his buddies go around doing this all the time, and had done this at this Chipotle multiple times. But when the manager doesn't put up with their **** anymore, he cries "racism" because he knows that'll get him attention. And it certainly did, because she got terminated within hours of him making a fuss about it. In an effort to try and prevent their reputation from being marred, they made a horribly rash decision. And now they're probably gonna end up hurting for it. I hope the manager gets her job back, or at the very least gets some kind of apology from Chipotle (money?).

Perfect. Thanks for posting.
I mentioned in the other thread that perhaps some of these situations might be staged to bring ?awareness?, and this confirms my suspicion.

 

[TheGoverness]

Perfect. Thanks for posting.
I mentioned in the other thread that perhaps some of these situations might be staged to bring ?awareness?, and this confirms my suspicion.

I don't think it was "staged", necessarily, more as it was him trying to grab attention out of this situation. Because he dine and dashes all the time, so I bet that's exactly what he was planning on doing that time, too. But apparently he was too stupid to realise that people can look at his Twitter history.

 

[OrphanSlug]

Article Here.



This is a good example of when outrage culture backfires and hurts innocent people. This woman was 100% in the right in this situation. This asshole and his buddies go around doing this all the time, and had done this at this Chipotle multiple times. But when the manager doesn't put up with their **** anymore, he cries "racism" because he knows that'll get him attention. And it certainly did, because she got terminated within hours of him making a fuss about it. In an effort to try and prevent their reputation from being marred, they made a horribly rash decision. And now they're probably gonna end up hurting for it. I hope the manager gets her job back, or at the very least gets some kind of apology from Chipotle (money?).

Another avoidable mess for Chipotle.

 

[TheGoverness]

Another avoidable mess for Chipotle.

Hopefully they learn from making such a rash decision.

 

[KevinKohler]

Personally, I think she should have been fired. But not because of perceived racism...for failure to properly execute company SOP. Lots of companies let known thieves shop at their locations every day. Just the way it is. She had a boss. Before denying service, that boss should have been informed.

 

[Blue Dog]

This is why we need to wait for all facts to come out before jumping to conclusions. It’s too easy for our politics to dictate our judgment when we first hear about these type of incidents.

 

[jnug]

Personally, I think she should have been fired. But not because of perceived racism...for failure to properly execute company SOP. Lots of companies let known thieves shop at their locations every day. Just the way it is. She had a boss. Before denying service, that boss should have been informed.

I think you might be right about that. SOP at every Chipotle I ever went to (back when I dared to go there) was always you have to pay to get any food...whether staying to dine or taking out. So I am not sure how the dine and dash charge stands if personnel are sticking to SOP.

 

[Kal'Stang]

Personally, I think she should have been fired. But not because of perceived racism...for failure to properly execute company SOP. Lots of companies let known thieves shop at their locations every day. Just the way it is. She had a boss. Before denying service, that boss should have been informed.

Not any company that I've ever been to. Every company that I have ever been to 86'd anyone caught stealing from them.

 

[PoS]

If they did eat without paying before then shouldnt the staff have called the cops back then too? Thats what I would have done if someone tried that in a restaurant I manage.

 

[TheGoverness]

If they did eat without paying before then shouldnt the staff have called the cops back then too?

Yeah. Probably should've called the cops the second time they came back, honestly. Maybe they were being slick about it. Or maybe she didn't recognize them until this time.

 

[Lutherf]

Article Here.



This is a good example of when outrage culture backfires and hurts innocent people. This woman was 100% in the right in this situation. This asshole and his buddies go around doing this all the time, and had done this at this Chipotle multiple times. But when the manager doesn't put up with their **** anymore, he cries "racism" because he knows that'll get him attention. And it certainly did, because she got terminated within hours of him making a fuss about it. In an effort to try and prevent their reputation from being marred, they made a horribly rash decision. And now they're probably gonna end up hurting for it. I hope the manager gets her job back, or at the very least gets some kind of apology from Chipotle (money?).

If you were the woman who got fired would you WANT your job back?

 

[humbolt]

If you were the woman who got fired would you WANT your job back?

Hmmm. Back to work as a manager, or file a wrongful termination suit. I suspect Chipotle has that on their minds perhaps more than righting a wrong.

 

[Tom Horn]

Hopefully they learn from making such a rash decision.

It’s too late now. They might as well shutter every restaurant now. Making both sides mad has a tendency to clear out all customers.

 

[ludin]

Article Here.



This is a good example of when outrage culture backfires and hurts innocent people. This woman was 100% in the right in this situation. This asshole and his buddies go around doing this all the time, and had done this at this Chipotle multiple times. But when the manager doesn't put up with their **** anymore, he cries "racism" because he knows that'll get him attention. And it certainly did, because she got terminated within hours of him making a fuss about it. In an effort to try and prevent their reputation from being marred, they made a horribly rash decision. And now they're probably gonna end up hurting for it. I hope the manager gets her job back, or at the very least gets some kind of apology from Chipotle (money?).

someone probably started a go fundme page for this guy and he made 1m dollars in a day.
the manager should get some just due compensation. they were wrongly accused and fired for no reason.

i am sick of the stupidity of all this EMO nonsense going on every time someone farts in the wrong direction.

 

[ludin]

Hmmm. Back to work as a manager, or file a wrongful termination suit. I suspect Chipotle has that on their minds perhaps more than righting a wrong.

eh wrongful termination suits don't get big money.
she might get like a 40k but that isn't going to help her any.

 

[ludin]

Yeah. Probably should've called the cops the second time they came back, honestly. Maybe they were being slick about it. Or maybe she didn't recognize them until this time.

the question is why would you hand them their food without them paying to begin with.

 

[Middle_Ground]

I'm trying to figure out how you dine and dash at chipotle.
You go they a line pay for your food and take the tray to a table
Kind of a weird story.

 

[Helix]

If these guys actually do this all the time, produce the tape and arrest them. Easy enough.

As for the manager, I'd serve the food and watch them. If they try to leave without paying, call the cops.

 

[TheGoverness]

the question is why would you hand them their food without them paying to begin with.

I don't think they handed it to them, I think they just grabbed it and ran. Must've distracted them in some way. I guess that's why he was in a large group of people.

 

[humbolt]

eh wrongful termination suits don't get big money.
she might get like a 40k but that isn't going to help her any.

Probably not, but I just read of one this morning where the plaintiff got $8 million. Personally, I 'm not litigious, and I'd happily move on from Chipotle in this situation.

 

[Mithrae]

Article Here.



This is a good example of when outrage culture backfires and hurts innocent people.

Is that a smidgeon of outrage I detect there? What's the difference between taking the side of the customers to badmouth the company all over the internet, and taking the side of the manager to badmouth the company all over the internet? Either way this thread seems to be part of the same culture of forcing business to fear national or international repurcussions over the most trivial offences.

If and when the business over-reaction is incorrect, continuing to perpetuate the culture which forces such over-reactions seems like being part of the problem.

 

[Mithrae]

Edit: I wonder how many people will 'boycott' the chain now to persuade themselves that they're making a petty, quasi-political point on one side or the other. Meanwhile there's actual, serious issues with some of the stuff we buy, such as use of conflict resources, land inefficiency and ecological harm such as Amazon clearing of meat (especially beef), or products' contributions to climate change from production, transport or usage.

Avoiding over-consumption and unethical products is challenging enough to begin with. The outrage culture unintentionally represented by this thread is - at best - a distraction from many of the real issues which we should be considering, but much worse might in many cases be used as a substitute for real responsibility.

 

[Mason66]

Article Here.



This is a good example of when outrage culture backfires and hurts innocent people. This woman was 100% in the right in this situation. This asshole and his buddies go around doing this all the time, and had done this at this Chipotle multiple times. But when the manager doesn't put up with their **** anymore, he cries "racism" because he knows that'll get him attention. And it certainly did, because she got terminated within hours of him making a fuss about it. In an effort to try and prevent their reputation from being marred, they made a horribly rash decision. And now they're probably gonna end up hurting for it. I hope the manager gets her job back, or at the very least gets some kind of apology from Chipotle (money?).

Before this outrage culture took hold, corporations usually took time to make decisions so as to not get sued by any side involved.

That doesn't seem to be the case anymore.

 

[Lutherf]

Before this outrage culture took hold, corporations usually took time to make decisions so as to not get sued by any side involved.

That doesn't seem to be the case anymore.

Social media changed that. It’s pretty easy to get rolled these days if the story seems good enough to enough useful idiots.