INDEPENDENCE, Mo. -- Three Applebee's employees have been fired after a woman said she and her friend were racially profiled at an Independence, Missouri location. Applebee's said it's temporarily closed the location for the team to "regroup, reflect, learn and grow."
In a Facebook post, Alexis Brison said she and her friend went to the restaurant at Independence Center Mall after shopping.
During the meal, Brison wrote an Independence police officer, mall officer, and a restaurant manager approached their table. She wrote in the post, “We were told that we were accused of eating and not paying for CHICKEN the day before (dining and dashing).”
In the video, you can hear one of the women saying multiple times to the officers and manager, “We have not been here.”
41 Action News reached out Applebee’s. A spokesperson sent 41 Action News the below statement.
“We recognize the hurt and pain caused by the recent incident at an Applebee’s restaurant in Independence, Mo. We very much regret this occurred and sincerely apologize to our guests and community. After an internal investigation and in-line with our values, the franchisee terminated the manager, server and another employee involved in the incident. We do not tolerate racism, bigotry or harassment of any nature, and we have taken additional steps to close the restaurant at this time in order for the team there to regroup, reflect, learn and grow from this. We are reaching out to the guests involved to apologize directly. We know rebuilding trust with those affected by the incident will take time, and we look forward to finding resolution in the coming days.”
The women were eventually asked to pay their bill and leave.
In the Facebook post, Brison wrote, “After leaving, calls were made to the restaurant and the manager stated that our accuser remembered that there was a SKINNY girl and a girl who wore MAKEUP. In 2018 is this really what we’re debased to? Our weight and whether or not we wore makeup.”
