A young, Black woman on her grind should be applauded; but a former Subway manager in Houston, Texas, doesn’t agree. On Tuesday, ABC13 reported that when a high schooler applied to work at the fast food restaurant, she was notified that her “people” need not apply.
Katelyn Simmons was hoping to have a productive summer vacation by getting a job and earning a little cash before her senior year. She tells ABC13 her plans were derailed when she received a text message from a friend who was already employed there. When Katelyn’s friend texted her manager to follow up on the application she had dropped off, the manager’s response was quite surprising.
“Girl brought in her application. I’m leaving it on the table for you tomorrow,” the employee and friend texted the manager.
The manager replied, “Ok thanks. How she look?”
“Black girl long dark hair. Shortish,” the employee said.
“Oh no thanks,” the manager responded. “I don’t want those people in our store lol.”
Katelyn told the news station that the words really hurt her. “It cut me deep,” she expressed. When the teen showed the messages to her mother, Timika Simmons, she too was taken aback by the manager’s reaction. Simmons decided to take the issue up with a regional manager who simply said, “Please get back to me, so we can get to the store, so we can get to the bottom of this and talk about it.” No immediate apology was given.
When ABC13 cameras went to the restaurant at Champion Forest and Cypresswood, they were told the employee who made the brash comments was no longer employed by the company.
“The manager of this location was immediately terminated for her actions,” a statement sent to ABC13 read. “The Franchise owner has reached out to the young woman who applied for the position to apologize and encourage her to consider re-applying. The former-manager’s actions do not reflect the openness and values shown by Subway Franchise Owners and their staff. The Subway brand and its independent Franchise Owner are inclusive and welcome all individuals to be part of the Subway restaurant teams.”
Katelyn has no plans to re-apply. Instead, the rising high school senior is expected to start another job in the coming days.