How to reward two Dunkin’ Donuts employees who calmly endured a racist rant from a belligerent and foul-mouthed customer?
The doughnut chain says it will honor the workers at a company event in Florida, but would say no more. Online supporters are less reticent; they argue the two should receive a monetary reward and are raising money for the two.
The issue arose after video of the incident at a Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Dunkin’ Donuts popped up on YouTube.
The two employees — identified as Abid and Nithi — were the targets of verbal abuse from a woman who, claiming that she had not received a receipt for a previous day’s purchase, was demanding a free meal.
The woman, who used profanities and derogatory terms for Arabs, recorded the incident herself and said she was going to post it on Facebook.
Dunkin’ Brands, which owns the doughnut chain, e-mailed a statement to NBCNews.com but gave no further details of the incident and did not explain how the employees will be honored.
“We commend the franchisee’s crew member for handling this difficult situation with grace and patience. We believe this is a powerful example of great customer service and the respect our crew members have for our guests,” said the statement attributed to Michelle King, Dunkin’ Brands’ Director of Global Public Relations.
“The franchise owner of the restaurant has reached out to the crew member privately to express and demonstrate his personal appreciation,” the statement said, without elaborating on whether the worker was rewarded.
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