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An unidentified Denny's waitress was fired after seemingly being racist towards two Black truck drivers. The latter were taking a pit-stop at the popular food joint where they were refused service and also escorted out of the venue by the police. Now, the phone call that was made to law enforcement has been made available online.
The confrontation was recorded and posted across social media platforms. It was quick to go viral with the Black men Damon Whitfield and Hector proceeding to give interviews about the incident. In the clip in question, the waitress can be heard telling them:
“So, to make the situation more calm because we do have a lot of people here it would just be nice if you guys could leave.”
When the guests asked what they did, she responded by saying that she had “no idea.” She went on to add:
“I’m not in the situation, but she, like, just said to make it calm down. She said like you guys can kind of leave because we do have a lot of people around or the police will be on their way because they are.”
The police then arrived at the Denny's restaurant.
During a Indisputable with Dr. Rashad Richey interview, Whitfield revealed that him and his partner were taking a break at the Sioux Falls, South Dakota Denny's restaurant to freshen up. He said that they were the only Black people at the food joint. He also confirmed that his friend placed an order in a kind manner to the waiting staff.
Whitfield also alleged that the waitress asked Hector to stop yelling at her when he was simply trying to grab the server’s attention. One of them also told the waitress that she was serving guests who arrived at the restaurant after them to which she allegedly responded- “leave now or I’m calling the police.”
As the controversy continues to garner attention online, many expressed outrage over the seemingly racist incident. A few reactions to the same read:
Phone call recording of Denny's manager calling the cops on the two truckers gets released online
According to the two truckers, the waitress who asked them to leave is reportedly the wife of Michael Fletcher, who is the district manager of Denny's. News outlets claimed that once he heard about the incident, he offered the two men a free meal but they declined the offer.
At the time of writing this article, his official LinkedIn account was removed.
Meanwhile, the phone call Fletcher made to local police made its way online, in the call he could be heard saying:
“I was hoping to have an officer dispatched to our restaurant, we have a couple guests who are unruly and are refusing to leave… the team called me and said that they were just like very confrontational and argumentative and some like refuse to leave the building. Just harassing the team and kind of following them around the restaurant.”
It is important to note that Fletcher was not at the venue when the incident took place. Neither does the video recording show the two men in question following the wait staff or “harassing” them in any manner.
Denny's releases statement after video goes viral
In a press statement Denny's claimed that they had a “zero-tolerance policy” when it came to “discrimination.” They added:
“We embrace diversity and foster an inclusive environment where every guest feels welcome.”
They also claimed that they fired the waitress after conducting an investigation. The restaurant also added:
“The employees at the location will immediately go through a dedicated training program to ensure the team delivers above and beyond our guests’ expectations. We regret this incident and want to apologize to the guests involved. Clearly, we fell short of our own standards that day and are committed to making it right.”
Michael Fletcher continues to be employed by the restaurant at the time of writing this article as per Indisputable with Dr. Rashad Richey.
