Police in Denison said a restaurant employee refused to serve two Denison officers early Saturday morning.

[Tex1961]

For my neighbors in Denison.


http://www.fox4news.com/news/denison-po ... ce-to-cops

[bmwrdr]

Sanctuary Whataburger location?

[Take Down Sicko]

I'm usually a pretty good customer of What A Burger, just went there yesterday. I will now take my business else where when in the mood for burgers.

[spectre]

Playing Devil's Advocate, how is this different than a bakery refusing to make a cake for a gay wedding?

[Flightmare]

Playing Devil's Advocate, how is this different than a bakery refusing to make a cake for a gay wedding?

If a business does not want police officers as customers, just let us know. There's no need to curse us and make a scene, just let us know you don't want us there and we'll go somewhere else.

That right there. In the case of the bakery, the government said they are not allowed to refuse.

[jmorris]

I'm usually a pretty good customer of What A Burger, just went there yesterday. I will now take my business else where when in the mood for burgers.

I don't see this as a Whataburger problem, it's an idiot employee / manager problem. I'm sure we'll be hearing from Whataburger that their status has changed.

"But when 2 of my officers were refused service by an employee of a local restaurant on October 14 just after midnight, then cursed by that employee and the on-duty manager's only response is, "I don't get into politics", that concerns me. If a business does not want police officers as customers, just let us know. There's no need to curse us and make a scene, just let us know you don't want us there and we'll go somewhere else."

[warnmar10]

Playing Devil's Advocate, how is this different than a bakery refusing to make a cake for a gay wedding?

If a gay person walks into a bakery to buy a cake out of the cooler the baker can't refuse to sell the gay person a cake just because ze are gay. That's public accommodation and you can't discriminate based on race, sex, religion, sexual orientation and whatnot.

On the other hand the baker can, or should be able to, refuse to make a cake with a two groom topper inscribed "Cameron & Mitchell, Wishing you the very best days of your life as Husband and Husband." Do you see the difference there?

I don't think the police are a protected class from a public accommodation standpoint. A business should be allowed to refuse service to police if that's what they want to do. But what if a black, female, gay, handicapped Jewish police officer with a speech impediment tried to buy a cheeseburger?

[spectre]

I don't think the police are a protected class from a public accommodation standpoint. A business should be allowed to refuse service to police if that's what they want to do. But what if a black, female, gay, handicapped Jewish police officer with a speech impediment tried to buy a cheeseburger?

Something doesn't sound Kosher.

[bmwrdr]

I'm usually a pretty good customer of What A Burger, just went there yesterday. I will now take my business else where when in the mood for burgers.

I don't see this as a Whataburger problem, it's an idiot employee / manager problem. I'm sure we'll be hearing from Whataburger that their status has changed.

"But when 2 of my officers were refused service by an employee of a local restaurant on October 14 just after midnight, then cursed by that employee and the on-duty manager's only response is, "I don't get into politics", that concerns me. If a business does not want police officers as customers, just let us know. There's no need to curse us and make a scene, just let us know you don't want us there and we'll go somewhere else."

And if they deny service to a group of people based on their profession it would be discrimination.

[spectre]

And if they deny service to a group of people based on their profession it would be discrimination.

If they post 30.07 signs it would be discrimination but it wouldn't be illegal.

[Liberty]

I have no doubt that Whataburger will properly address this issue.

Maybe just maybe they are still holding a grudge over some missing little plastic tents

[TacShot]

Condemning Whataburger is a knee jerk reaction. It was not the restaurant policy that refused service to the LEOs, it was an employee with an agenda. Whataburger took the appropriate action and fired the offending employee. Whataburger is a Texas company and every one I have patronized has been gun friendly. I have never seen one posted.

[ScottDLS]

Playing Devil's Advocate, how is this different than a bakery refusing to make a cake for a gay wedding?

If a gay person walks into a bakery to buy a cake out of the cooler the baker can't refuse to sell the gay person a cake just because ze are gay. That's public accommodation and you can't discriminate based on race, sex, religion, sexual orientation and whatnot.

On the other hand the baker can, or should be able to, refuse to make a cake with a two groom topper inscribed "Cameron & Mitchell, Wishing you the very best days of your life as Husband and Husband." Do you see the difference there?

I don't think the police are a protected class from a public accommodation standpoint. A business should be allowed to refuse service to police if that's what they want to do. But what if a black, female, gay, handicapped Jewish police officer with a speech impediment tried to buy a cheeseburger?

There is no federal or Texas law prohibiting discrimination against homosexuals in public accommodation. There are in some locations but not here, yet.

[Vol Texan]

I'm usually a pretty good customer of What A Burger, just went there yesterday. I will now take my business else where when in the mood for burgers.

And yet we need to remember:

This is an incident that was caused by an employee of one location. This is not a reflection of Whataburger as a whole, nor even of that restaurant's management specifically.

As the story says, they re-engaged the employee, and the employee kept the negative narrative rolling, but there is ZERO reporting in this story about the response from the local location.

Here's what I found in just a few seconds of searching:

We immediately launched an internal investigation when we heard these reports, and have learned of an isolated incident where an individual employee acted out of line with Whataburger’s values to treat all customers with respect. We took swift action and this person is no longer employed by us. We've also reached out to the police sergeant to apologize and plan to speak with the other officers involved to apologize in person and make this right. Whataburger truly appreciates our law enforcement and their efforts to protect and serve our communities

And in the article, it showed Whataburger corporate's response:

"We’re taking this claim seriously and investigating the details to take appropriate action. We support the efforts of law enforcement in our communities and believe in serving all our customers with respect."

It sounds to me like Whataburger local and corporate got handed a soup sandwich, and made good out of it anyway.

[warnmar10]

There is no federal or Texas law prohibiting discrimination against homosexuals in public accommodation. There are in some locations but not here, yet.

I thought sexual orientation was an adjudicated protection. Maybe employment/EEOC policy?