Clarifying its stance, the corporate office issued a bold statement when a group of police officers was disappointedly turned away by the employees in a Five Guys restaurant when the group was stopping by for a bite to eat, claiming that it was because of their profession.
During a new wave of nationwide protests against racial injustice and police brutality in July 2020, news reports and social media posts claimed that a Five Guys burger restaurant in Daphne, Alabama, refused to serve police officers.
According to reports, a group of Daphne Police Department officers said that they had entered the Five Guys restaurant at the Jubilee Square shopping center in Daphne on an evening for a late-night meal while on patrol. When employees there refused to serve them. The three Alabama officers were informed that their patronage was not welcome as soon as they walked into the restaurant to place their order.
The Daphne Police officers left the restaurant when employees made it clear they weren’t welcome.
The report added that when the police officers entered the restaurant lobby, a group of 6 or 7 employees allegedly turned their backs on them. Indicating that the employees wanted the officers to leave, an officer involved in the incident said that a worker stated bluntly to their colleagues, saying, “I’m not serving them.”
The officers quickly left the restaurant to look for another eatery that would serve them since they didn’t want to make things worse. However, Daphne Police officials then released a statement about the alleged incident letting the business know about the incident in case they wanted to take any further action, stating:
“To clarify some misinformation that has been spread on social media, on July, 7th three officers of the Daphne Police Department entered the Five Guys restaurant in Daphne. The three officers became aware of the mask requirement. They returned to their vehicles to obtain masks. All three officers were wearing masks the entire time they were inside of the establishment. The events that occurred while the officers were in the restaurant were unfortunate. We will continue to work with Five Guys on this matter towards resolution once all the facts are known.”
After the incident, a Five Guys corporate spokesperson also released the following statement:
“Five Guys and the Franchisee of the Daphne, AL location were made aware of reports that local Police Officers had been denied service by employees at that location.
Five Guys and the franchisee are actively investigating the situation and are committed to getting to the bottom of it. However, no matter what the details are, we do not want these police officers, or any customer, to feel disrespected or slighted in any way. We apologize to those officers and also want to make it clear that Five Guys and its franchisees are committed to fair, respectful, and equal treatment for all customers.
We will continue to investigate the matter.”
The Five Guys then made the following announcement, in which they revealed that some of the affected employees had been fired and others had been suspended:
“We have … put the Daphne Police Department in touch with ownership of the establishment in order to understand what occurred and circumstances surrounding the event. We love our PD in the City of Daphne, Alabama – ‘The Jubilee City’ and certainly hope that our officers were not refused service. I am offering to buy these five officers their next meal. Who else wants to follow suit to show our support and appreciation for our men & women in blue?”
The Daphne Police Department has received an outpouring of support from the community.
In an official statement, The Daphne PD explained that they will continue to work with the restaurant and patronize the location. As the department expressed its gratitude for the company’s swift action and support.
“The Daphne Police Department appreciates the outpouring of support from our community and from supporters of Law Enforcement across the country. We also want to thank Five Guys on a corporate and local level. We have been working through this situation and there has been total cooperation. The Daphne Police Department does not think that the actions of a few employees represents Five Guys as a whole,”the Daphne PD wrote.
