Two cousins are considering legal action after a Little Ceasars employee allegedly wrote the word “gay” on their receipt, where the name of the customer usually is.
According to WTVR, Rosman Harris and his cousin, Marcus Robertson, went to one of the fast food franchises in Henrico County, Virginia last Friday and placed their order. The two men left for about 15 minutes before coming back to pick up their pizzas. That’s when they noticed the word on the receipt.
“I was baffled, and it made me semi-angry because I feel like it’s 2019 and we’re still having to deal with this,” Harris said.
The two men told the news station that the cashier checking them out never asked their names, even though customers before and after were asked. And, although both men say that they are gay, they said they never mentioned it while in the store.
“It was this preconceived notion of, ‘Oh, these are gay men.’ So, why would you write that on the ticket? I’m not understanding that,” Harris added.
He said that they asked the manager why that word was on the receipt, but never got an answer.
Another cousin went back to the store on Sunday to find the same cashier working, and questioned the men’s treatment as well.
“She said, ‘Well, oh, he was being loud, he was being rude.’ So, my cousin was, like, ‘No, he wasn’t being loud or rude. He’s hearing impaired, so when he talked loud that’s for him to hear himself speak,'” Robertson said of the exchange.
Robertson added that his cousin was told that the cashier in question could not be fired because the restaurant was short-staffed, but by Monday she was terminated.
Little Ceasars released a statement via its director of communications noting:
Little Caesars maintains a zero-tolerance policy against any violations of professional conduct. This is a highly unusual, isolated situation at a store locally owned and operated by a franchisee. The franchise owner took immediate action to investigate this matter and has terminated the employment of the individual involved in the incident.
However, Robertson hopes that the fast-food chain will better train their employees.
“Because for something like this to happen, not only does it impact your business, it impacts your image as well,” he said.
Still, neither of the men have received a direct apology for the incident, and according to the news station are now considering legal recourse.
