A Minnesota police officer who was refused service at a Hardee’s restaurant recently vented her frustrations on Facebook, sparking public outrage and swift action by Hardee’s management.
“Today a cook at Hardee’s in Milaca refused to make food for me … because she doesn’t like cops,” officer Jackie Minks posted to Facebook Tuesday. “When I talked to the manager about it she dismissed it as ‘silly’ and said she wasn’t going to do anything with the employee.
“I asked for the phone number of her general manager and she said she didn’t have it. I asked for the phone number for the headquarters of Hardee’s, she told me to ‘look it up on Hardees.com,” the post continued. “Needless to say I did find the phone number for their corporate offices and shared my experience with one if their representatives. They are supposed to get back to me in the next couple of days.”
“I was surprised,” Minks told WCCO. “It doesn’t usually happen to law enforcement, although it seems to become more of a trend.”
Minks’ post ignited public outrage on Facebook, as well as calls for a boycott.
“This is so stupid!” Rae Marie Berven wrote. “I appreciate all police officers on duty and off. Thank you police for the jobs you do.”
“And these are the people protesting for $15 an hour. Now can you imagine if someone refused to serve a minority because they didn’t like them?”
“This is getting sickening,” DuWayne Orth added. “These idiot brats and punks refusing to serve police officers need to be fired. If they get into trouble, just who will they call? Police, that’s right. So sick of these self-righteous brats.”
Other commenters contacted the Northland Restaurant Group, owners of the local Hardee’s, to complain about the incident and posted the responses online.
“It is understandable that the conduct and decision making at the Milaca location yesterday was not made of sound judgement,” NRG director Dave Osterndorf wrote to poster Kath Kraft, according to the West Central Tribune. “It could have been handled in a much more professional manner.”
“I wish to apologize to you as I did Jackie, for the less than deserving appreciation that was shown to her and that all officers deserve. We do not allow our employees to decide who gets served and who doesn’t. … There will be quick and decisive internal action taken to handle this matter.”
A Hardee’s spokesperson told WCCO the employee who refused service no longer works for the company, and the local establishment went out of its way to make things right.
“We investigated this incident and the employee who was involved no longer works for the franchise-owner of this Hardee’s restaurant. It appears to have arisen from a past matter between the officer and the former employee,” the spokesman said. “All of us at Hardee’s are very appreciative of the service that the Milaca police officers provide and their patronage of this restaurant.
“As a show of support and appreciation for Milaca police officers we have offered to buy the entire police department breakfast.”
Minks said Hardee’s stopped by Friday to make good on its promise. She also issued a final statement on the debacle.
“I’ve always had a good relationship with Hardee’s and their employees,” Minks wrote, “and this was an unfortunate incident with a couple of employees. They are an active business and provide a number of jobs in our community. The ownership and management apologized for what happened and responded quickly to the situation and brought resolution to the matter.”
Milaca Police Chief Todd Quaintance also issued a statement.
“The incident involving a Milaca officer having an employee refuse to provide service was unfortunate, but I feel this is an isolated incident that does not reflect the relationship between the Milaca Police Department and any business,” he wrote.
“I have no concerns about our ability to have a successful relationship with all of our local businesses. We acknowledge that Hardee’s has taken action on this matter and we believe the matter is now closed.”
The Hardee’s incident is the latest in a string of similar stunts by fast food workers who apparently do not respect police, a trend that has seemingly spawned from recent race riots and the #blacklivesmatter movement.
According to the Tribune:
In September, one Arby’s employee was fired and another suspended after refusing to serve Sgt. Jennifer Martin of the Pembroke Pines (Florida) Police Department.
In her police report, Martin wrote the drive-through window clerk, Kenneth Davenport, delayed Martin’s service intentionally. A manager, Angel Mirabal, told Martin that Davenport “doesn’t want to serve you because you are a police officer.” Mirabal later laughed and told Martin he was allowed to refuse service for that reason.
Arby’s spokesman Jason Rollins later told the Orlando Sun Sentinel that Mirabal was fired, while Davenport was suspended for two days with pay.
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