Papa John's apologizes, fires employee for racial slur
A Papa John’s employee in New York City was fired Saturday just hours after a customer tweeted a picture of her receipt, which included a racial slur.
About 12:30 p.m. Saturday, customer Minhee Cho tweeted a photo of a receipt she received at a Papa John’s restaurant the day before.
On the receipt, in the space for the customer’s name, the employee who rang up Cho’s order identified her as “lady c****y eyes.”
Cho tweeted the picture and a message to Papa John’s: “Hey @PapaJohns just FYI my name isn’t ‘lady c****y eyes’ ” and the story was picked up nationally, including by the Huffington Post website.
In an interview Saturday night, Tish Muldoon, a spokeswoman for the Louisville-based pizza company, said the employee had been fired and the company was trying to reach Cho to apologize.
“We want to make sure she understands this was an isolated individual incident,” said Muldoon. “We do look forward to apologizing to her and we are very sorry that this occurred.”
A statement on Papa John’s Facebook page said the incident “goes against our company values and we’ve confirmed with the franchisee that this matter was addressed immediately.”
The pizza company also posted on its Twitter feed: “We have issued an apology, are reaching out to customer & franchise employee is being terminated.”
Muldoon said she did not know the name of the employee who had been fired and had not heard an explanation for why the incident occurred.
Source
Papa John's customer: Pizza joint called me 'lady c****y eyes'
Racist receipt left New York girl with a bad taste in her mouth.
She ordered a small pepperoni pie — and got a side of racism.
Minhee Cho, 24, was shocked when she learned she had been described by a Papa John's employee as “lady c****y eyes.”
The public relations rep spotted the disparaging phrase on her receipt Saturday a day after visiting a Hamilton Heights branch of the popular pizzeria.
“Hey @PapaJohns just FYI my name isn’t ‘lady c****y eyes,’” Cho tweeted, along with the an image of the offensive receipt.
“I was very surprised because the lady that was serving me was super nice and we joked and it seemed super normal,” said Cho, an uptown resident.
Papa John's tweeted Saturday evening that the employee is being axed.
"We are very upset by recent receipt issue in New York & sincerely apologize to our customer. Franchise employee involved is being terminated," the tweet said.
When reached earlier by the Daily News, a Papa John’s assistant manager said she was certain her employees didn’t mean to offend the customer.
“I apologize. They’re not bad people,” she said. “I’ve seen the receipt and I don't know why they wrote that but I’m sure they didn’t mean to offend her in any way.”
The owner of the store, Ronald Johnson, said that he was shocked over the incident and planned on having sensitivity trainings to make sure nothing similar ever happened again.
“It’s just wrong,” he said. “I was shocked and I was very, very upset about it.”
He added that the employee responsible for the receipt was a teen — who he believed was misguided by “hip hop culture.”
“It’s unfortunate, but this is the modern culture that they’re involved in,” he said.
Cho said she posted the receipt on the internet to show her friends and shame Papa John’s.
“I wasn’t super angry about it,” she said. “I (just) can’t believe this happened in this day and age.”
Even so, that’s probably the last time she’ll order from the chain pizzeria.
“Some of the tweets I’ve gotten back are, ‘Why are you going to Papa John’s when you live in New York City?’” she said.
Source
OMG WHAT ABOUT THE POOR EMPLOYEE WHO LOST THEIR JOB TO PC!!!11
A Papa John’s employee in New York City was fired Saturday just hours after a customer tweeted a picture of her receipt, which included a racial slur.
About 12:30 p.m. Saturday, customer Minhee Cho tweeted a photo of a receipt she received at a Papa John’s restaurant the day before.
On the receipt, in the space for the customer’s name, the employee who rang up Cho’s order identified her as “lady c****y eyes.”
Cho tweeted the picture and a message to Papa John’s: “Hey @PapaJohns just FYI my name isn’t ‘lady c****y eyes’ ” and the story was picked up nationally, including by the Huffington Post website.
In an interview Saturday night, Tish Muldoon, a spokeswoman for the Louisville-based pizza company, said the employee had been fired and the company was trying to reach Cho to apologize.
“We want to make sure she understands this was an isolated individual incident,” said Muldoon. “We do look forward to apologizing to her and we are very sorry that this occurred.”
A statement on Papa John’s Facebook page said the incident “goes against our company values and we’ve confirmed with the franchisee that this matter was addressed immediately.”
The pizza company also posted on its Twitter feed: “We have issued an apology, are reaching out to customer & franchise employee is being terminated.”
Muldoon said she did not know the name of the employee who had been fired and had not heard an explanation for why the incident occurred.
Source
Papa John's customer: Pizza joint called me 'lady c****y eyes'
Racist receipt left New York girl with a bad taste in her mouth.
She ordered a small pepperoni pie — and got a side of racism.
Minhee Cho, 24, was shocked when she learned she had been described by a Papa John's employee as “lady c****y eyes.”
The public relations rep spotted the disparaging phrase on her receipt Saturday a day after visiting a Hamilton Heights branch of the popular pizzeria.
“Hey @PapaJohns just FYI my name isn’t ‘lady c****y eyes,’” Cho tweeted, along with the an image of the offensive receipt.
“I was very surprised because the lady that was serving me was super nice and we joked and it seemed super normal,” said Cho, an uptown resident.
Papa John's tweeted Saturday evening that the employee is being axed.
"We are very upset by recent receipt issue in New York & sincerely apologize to our customer. Franchise employee involved is being terminated," the tweet said.
When reached earlier by the Daily News, a Papa John’s assistant manager said she was certain her employees didn’t mean to offend the customer.
“I apologize. They’re not bad people,” she said. “I’ve seen the receipt and I don't know why they wrote that but I’m sure they didn’t mean to offend her in any way.”
The owner of the store, Ronald Johnson, said that he was shocked over the incident and planned on having sensitivity trainings to make sure nothing similar ever happened again.
“It’s just wrong,” he said. “I was shocked and I was very, very upset about it.”
He added that the employee responsible for the receipt was a teen — who he believed was misguided by “hip hop culture.”
“It’s unfortunate, but this is the modern culture that they’re involved in,” he said.
Cho said she posted the receipt on the internet to show her friends and shame Papa John’s.
“I wasn’t super angry about it,” she said. “I (just) can’t believe this happened in this day and age.”
Even so, that’s probably the last time she’ll order from the chain pizzeria.
“Some of the tweets I’ve gotten back are, ‘Why are you going to Papa John’s when you live in New York City?’” she said.
Source
OMG WHAT ABOUT THE POOR EMPLOYEE WHO LOST THEIR JOB TO PC!!!11
right, because that comment could be taken in another, non offensive way? please.
Do tell me what they DID mean to do then.
aka be douchebros.
also
"The owner of the store, Ronald Johnson, said that he was shocked over the incident and planned on having sensitivity trainings to make sure nothing similar ever happened again."
...
"He added that the employee responsible for the receipt was a teen — who he believed was misguided by “hip hop culture.”
wha
somehow
I was thinking it was hand-scribbled in pen, but like --- they went through the trouble of TYPING THAT SHIP UP.
It wouldn't have made it any better being written, but jfc.
At least the employee was fired, but just NO. No.
I'm sorry, but what other way could that possibly have been taken? I can't believe someone actually typed that on the receipt and thought someone wouldn't complain (and rightfully so) about it.
Please tell me there aren't people defending the use of that word.
I refuse to read source comments =|
a few examples:
1. it's just a fact and no different than describing someone as "the white man" or "the black man"!
2. some black people have epicanthic folds and they're called chinky eyes all the time! (i don't even know if that's true and if it is - what, i'm supposed to believe it doesn't qualify as a slur because it's not directed at asians? stfd.)
3. sometimes it's meant as a compliment, like being exotic or beautiful!
4. sticks and stones will break my bones, but words will never hurt me!
"who he believed was misguided by 'hip hop culture.'"
Translation: The employee typed it as a "joke", planning to erase it before giving the receipt to the customer, but forgot.
Edited at 2012-01-08 07:59 pm (UTC)
/worked at PJs until a few months ago, two stores in two years, and the prevailing attitude at both was 'lol, racism, misogyny and homophobia are FUNNY and you're just trying to make trouble if you say otherwise.'
what.
Gotta love the double dose of racism too. Ugh
yeah, because the only reason she felt the need to speak out against racism was so she could get a free pizza. Ugh, the people I have to be associated to.
At this point what does someone have to do to actually have their actions be called racist? How many bad things do we have to see someone do before we admit, yeah, they're a fucking dick?
Courtesy of Xenophobic Press.
Translation: "Sorry, he's racist because he's black."
This store has a lot of issues apparently.
Use racist slurs against Asians, and then blame it on Black people.
But of course, he's totally not racist. Totally.
Also, I'm sick of "I'm sure they didn't mean to offend" bullshit! I'm a (generally) nice person, but if I punch someone in the face, I can't say "Oh, I didn't mean to give you a black eye, and besides I'm such a decent person that punching you in the face doesn't mean anything. You're clearly overreacting."