Two employees at a Noodles & Company restaurant in Northern Virginia who refused to service a police officer earlier this week have been fired, the store said in a statement Thursday.
“After completing a thorough investigation into the allegations brought to us by a police officer who visited our Alexandria, VA location, we have concluded the two team members in question acted inappropriately and we immediately terminated their employment,” the statement said, Fox News’s local affiliate reported.
After spotting a police officer waiting in line, the restaurant chef told the cashier, “You better pull me off the line, because I’m not serving that,” while gesturing in the officer’s direction.
The two employees proceeded to laugh at the officer, who was in uniform. The policewoman did not want to cause a scene and left the store.
The incident comes amid a heated debate about police officers and the communities they serve, following several incidents of black men being killed by police and police being killed by black men.
Noodles & Company said it spoke with the officer who was denied service and “apologized for the inexcusable actions of these individuals.”
• Bradford Richardson can be reached at brichardson@washingtontimes.com.
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