AUGUSTA, Ga. — The owners of a Chick-fil-A in Georgia are apologizing to the Clover Police Department after one officer says he experienced racial discrimination at the restaurant.
Channel 2 Action News’ sister station WSOC spoke to the officers about the experience, and they hope it leads to change.
“I was kind of humiliated and embarrassed, you know, at the whole situation. It seemed like it was a racial issue to me,” said Clover Police Sgt. Tracey Reid.
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Reid said the experience happened at a Chick-fil-A in Augusta while on a work trip a few weeks ago. He and three other CPD officers went into the restaurant for breakfast. Reid is Black; the other three officers are white.
“We came in together, same uniform, stood in line, there was never a time we were not together while standing in line,” Reid said.
They say all three white officers were offered a complimentary meal, which they say is often offered to law enforcement at the popular chain restaurant. But when Reid got to the register, he had to pay.
“He said he had to pay for his meal, and it infuriated me,“ said Detective Thomas Barnette. ”And I said, ‘You want me to go say something?’ He was like, ‘No, I don’t want you to cause a scene,’ but I could tell the way he looked; he just looked at his plate, he looked sad and humiliated and that made me really mad.”
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Eventually, Reid wrote a letter to Chick-fil-A corporate, demanding the chain retrain employees at the Augusta location and strengthen corporate-wide policies on compliance with civil rights laws.
Reid and the other officers weren’t satisfied with the response from the Augusta store manager, which included two cards for free meals.
“It said it was perceived that it was a racial incident, which I didn’t like, because it wasn’t perceived; it actually happened,” Reid said.
“He’s not the only one that perceived it. We all did, and it’s not perception, it’s what happened. It was a racial issue,” said Barnette.
The letter from the manager included an apology. It said the person who processed the meal was a team leader who doesn’t normally work at the register, and the manager called the incident a mistake.
Chick-fil-A Augusta Owner-Operator Kenny Hanna shared a statement with Channel 2 Action News.
“We regret the unintentional impact this incident had and sincerely apologize to our Guest. We were deeply concerned by this claim. It appears to have been an honest oversight across separate lines and registers. We are strongly committed to supporting our community’s first responders.”
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