Two smoothie franchises in Charlotte, NC have closed their doors after separate incidents of employees from different stores identifying customers on receipts using racist language, reports the Charlotte Post.
One employee referred to an Asian customer as Jackie Chan. Another employee wrote the “N” word where a customer’s name is normally placed.
“I was just in this Smoothie King with my kids. Instead of asking for my name. Zack H. thought it would be funny to put “Jackie Chan” as my name. Being Korean, I find this very insulting,” said Tony Choi on Facebook. “But the 3 employees working there at the time couldn’t stop laughing about it. I experience racism here and there and usually doesn’t bother me. Today I left this store furious on the inside, trying to not let my young kids know what just happened.”
Smoothie King CEO Wan Kim called the incident totally unacceptable.
“Today, two instances happened in our Charlotte franchise stores that are totally unacceptable and go against every value that we stand for,” Kim wrote in a statement, according to WBTV. “Two of our team members wrote inappropriate, racial remarks about our guests. We have zero tolerance for any action where a guest is disrespected, and we have taken immediate and decisive action.
Both stores involves have been closed pending further employee training, according to the chain. The employees behind the receipts have been fired. Smoothie King is headquartered in Texas.
AsAmNews has Asian America in its heart. We’re an all-volunteer effort of dedicated staff and interns. Check out our Twitter feed and Facebook page for more content. Please consider interning, joining our staff or submitting a story