A Server Received A Homophobic Message On His Receipt — And Got Fired For Sharing It

From Delish

A gay waiter was fired from a North Carolina restaurant earlier this week after taking to social media to share a customer's receipt with a homophobic remark scribbled on it. The receipt in question reads, "Our gay waiter made me wanna throw up my food! Ruined my experience [tonight]. Will not be back!"

A Facebook user named Lucia Stetson posted a photo of the same receipt on Sunday with a red blob marked over the customer's name, and text that reads, "Please read the ignorance" over that. Stetson's post explains to her friends and followers that the young man has been fired from the restaurant, Hickory Tavern, and it has since gone viral, racking up over 2,100 shares and 33 comments in five days. Most of the comments appear to be condemning the restaurant for the actions taken against the employee.

Hickory Tavern confirmed to the Charlotte Observer that the employee, who can only currently be identified as "Justin S.," has indeed been let go, but only because his decision to post the receipt violated the company's confidentiality policy that prohibits posting credit card receipts online.

"We strongly condemn the insults directed at one of our team members in remarks left by a patron on their credit card receipt," the restaurant said. "We value diversity and do not discriminate on the basis of race, gender, sexual orientation or for any other reason. We also value the privacy of our patrons, and posting of credit card receipts violates our confidentiality policy.

"Although the team member was initially terminated for violating this policy, after further discussions with the team member, we made the decision to offer his job back. We strive to strike the right balance between supporting our team members and protecting the private information of our guests."

The restaurant has apparently offered the young man his job back, but it's not clear if he's taken them up on the offer.

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