Police Sergeant denied service at Pembroke Pines Arby's Posted: Sep 02, 2015 7:57 AM PDTUpdated: Sep 03, 2015 9:14 AM PDT Police wives protesting at Arbys after Pembroke Pines Sergeant was denied service PEMBROKE PINES, Fla. (WSVN) -- A local Arby's, the nation's second-largest sandwich chain, is under fire after they reportedly refused to offer service to a female Pembroke Pines Police sergeant. The incident occurred at the Arby's located at 11755 Pines Blvd., Tuesday evening. According to officials, Sgt. Jennifer Martin was refused service by management because she was in uniform and a member of law enforcement. David Gamson, a U.S. veteran, was appalled by the occurrence. "This is America, freedom, this is what I fought for in World War II," he said. John Rivera, President of the Miami-Dade Police Benevolent Association, said if denying service to law enforcement was in fact their policy, then officers should not give the company their business. "If an establishment such as Arby's doesn't want to serve police officers, I want to make sure that all police officers and their family members in America know that Arby's is not the place to go," he said. "There are other restaurants that accept us, receive us with warmth, and we'd rather do our business elsewhere." According to the police report, Martin drove up to the Arby's drive-thru window and upon placing her order, noticed slight rudeness coming from the employee. Thinking there was an issue with the store's speaker system, the sergeant continued to place her order. When Martin drove up to the take-out window and handed her credit card over to the clerk, 19-year-old Kenneth Davenport and the store's manager, 22-year-old Angel Mirabal, approached the window stating, "He [Davenport] doesn't want to serve you because you are a police officer." Mirabal ordered that Martin's credit card not be processed, to which Martin informed the manager that she was "extremely uncomfortable" and was not certain if she wanted to dine at the restaurant. However, Mirabal assured Martin that the situation was OK, proceeded to hand over her food and jokingly stated that he was allowed to refuse service to Martin. Unsure of the safety of her food, Martin chose not to eat it and entered the restaurant. Mirabal gave Martin a refund and provided her with his contact information. Davenport, however, refused contact with Martin and refused to provide his information. In a statement released Wednesday, Pembroke Pines Police Chief Dan Giustino said, "I am offended and appalled that an individual within our community would treat a police officer in such a manner. It is unacceptable, and I will be contacting the Arby's CEO to demand an apology." Jeff Marano from the Police Benevolent Association also joined the conversation with comments of concern. "This is inexcusable behavior for an employee in an establishment to be treating a uniformed police officer or anybody in the public like that," said Marano. Thomas McCutcheon, grandfather of Kenneth Davenport, said Davenport did not know it was an officer who was ordering at the window. "He was on duty last night taking orders, he got so overwhelmed with people giving him orders that he asked his manager to help him," he said. "I think this is a bad misunderstanding." 7 News asked Davenport if he would ever deny food to a police officer. "For what? She's hungry I'm going to give her some food," he said. "We don't hate cops, we don't hate anybody." Wednesday afternoon, several wives of law enforcement officers held up signs outside Arby's in protest. The public on social media was not happy with the way Martin was treated, demanded the employees to be fired from the restaurant and also called it discrimination. "Police go out there everyday, put on their badge, put on their vest. They go out there to protect and serve the community and to be refused service over their uniform is absolutely outrageous," said one of several wives of police officers who decided to picket outside the Arby's. Ironically, a mother and daughter visited police headquarters Tuesday evening to drop off cookies and offer their appreciation to the agency and its officers. "We are very proud of the partnerships we have built within our city, and for an incident like this to have happened is very disappointing for everyone," said Giustino. Wednesday morning, Arby's CEO Paul Brown and Senior VP of Operations Scott Boatwright spoke with Giustino to offer their sincere apologies on behalf of the organization. Both assured Giustino that the employee's behavior was unacceptable and not representative of the company's values. Arby's also released a statement that reads, "We take this isolated matter very seriously as we respect and support police officers in our local communities. As soon as the issue was brought to our attention, our CEO spoke with the Police Chief who expressed his gratitude for our quick action and indicates the case is closed. We will be following up with our team members to be sure that our policy of inclusion is understood and adhered to." McCutcheon also said he would like to sit down and personally talk to Giustino about the incident. Giustino accepted the apology and now considers the matter closed. Arby's representatives released a second statement stating that they continue to look into the matter, and there is a possibility of termination for the two employees.
Apparently, this was the kid that refused service and it was supposed to be a joke. On Wednesday Kenneth Davenport, 19, said 'We don't hate police. We don't hate anybody.' The next day he was indefinitely suspended with a decision about the future of his job forthcoming. Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...on-employee-maintains-joke.html#ixzz3kmIbYu8Y Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook
IF the employee was busy and asked the manager, who made the "joke", to help, then the employee did nothing wrong. IF it was a joke it was a dumb one, but as someone with a quick wit, I completely understand telling jokes or saying things in poor taste. Still, not ok, and the manager SHOULD have been fired
I agree... I think the manager was the one really responsible. They take accountability for any employee that they manage.
I think most of the Arby's around here have closed. The Powell and Foster stores closed but I think their is one near Clackamas Town Center. Where in the hell did Skippers go? I don't think there are any in Portland anymore. I used to love the fish and chowder. The fries were ass.
