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Two police officers from Lewisville, Texas were denied service when they tried to order food from a Whataburger employee.
Officer Cameron Beckham and Strawn City Deputy Michael Magovern were about to start their night shift, providing traffic security at a construction site on Interstate 35. On their way to Stemmons Freeway, they reached a Whataburger restaurant and decided to have a quick meal.
However, the fast food cashier who greeted them refused to assist them, claiming that the joint didn’t serve law enforcement members. The police officers insist that his rejection wasn’t expressed as a joke, but as a real rule that he was following, upon noticing that they were wearing their uniforms . Eventually, the policemen left the place and grabbed a bite to eat at Dairy Queen instead.
Following this incident, Whataburger was inundated with complaints on its Facebook and Twitter pages. In response, the fast food chain’s representatives have labelled the employee’s attitude as “completely unacceptable” and committed themselves to resolving the issue as soon as possible.
They quickly began an internal investigation and eventually they fired the accused server and offered their apologies to the officers. This decision was followed by a meeting which took place on Wednesday afternoon, between the policemen and Whataburger’s executives, including the area’s district manager.
Other staff members from the Lewisville eatery did not provide any additional details regarding the squabble. Nevertheless, one of the law enforcement officers remains of the opinion that the company is usually supportive of their profession and that this was just a one-off incident.
“I knew right off the top this was not a Whataburger corporate issue. This was a single location, employee with a problem issue”, declared Magovern.
Due to this outlook, he intends to remain a customer of the restaurant chain, whereas officer Beckham has declared he no longer trusts the business and will turn to other alternatives.
A similar incident has happened earlier this month at an Arby’s drive thru in Florida, where another police officer was denied service, but the fast food employee later claimed it was all just a prank that had been misunderstood. However, the matter wasn’t treated lightly by a South Florida police union, who called for a nationwide boycott of the company.
Some suggest that these trivial disputes may be signs of a growing aversion towards law enforcement in America. There have been several highly publicized police killings recently but according to the National Law Enforcement Officer Memorial Fund, the total number of fatalities this year is just 3% higher than last year.
While traffic accidents accounted for the largest percentage of these deaths, gun-related fatalities have decreased by 22%. However, the media has been providing extensive coverage to these high-profile cases, leading people to believe there is currently a spike in violent acts against policemen.
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