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Nov. 21, 2018 / 2:04 AM GMT
By Doha Madani
Chipotle has rehired a manager after more information came out regarding a controversial viral video where staff were seen refusing to serve a group of black men.
The manager, Dominique Moran, lost her job after video circulated on Twitter Friday of her denying the group service at a restaurant in St. Paul, Minnesota — unless they could offer payment upfront.
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A man named Masud Ali posted the video, tagging the chain restaurant’s account, where a Moran can be seen telling the men “you gotta pay because you never have money when you come in here, bro.”
“Ya’ll are basically stereotyping us,” one of the men says in a video. “You’re saying we don’t pay, for what reason? I come here every day.”
Ali posted a thread of videos in which the group of men began arguing with Chipotle employees, eventually resulting in Moran calling the police. Chipotle tweeted later Friday that the company was firing Moran and re-training employees at the location.
“What happened here is not how our employees should treat our customers,” the company tweeted in reply to Ali Friday. “We are committed to treating all of our guests fairly and with respect. The manager has been terminated and the restaurant has been retrained so this doesn’t happen again. We’ll be back in touch.”
Social media sleuths, however, unearthed tweets Ali allegedly posted about dining and dashing years prior. When those posts were brought to light, Chipotle reversed its decision on Monday and re-hired Moran after receiving screenshots of the tweets online. The screenshots of what appear to be now-deleted tweets by Ali could not be verified by NBC News.
“Based on our review, we have offered our manager her job back,” Chipotle said in a statement. “While our normal protocol was not followed serving these customers, we publicly apologize to our manager for being put in this position. We will work to continue to ensure that we support a respectful workplace for our employees and our customers alike.”
Moran told the Minneapolis Star Tribune on Tuesday that she was just trying to stand up for her employees, who were tired of dealing with cheapskates. She described the interaction as “frightening” but wanted to be clear that the men would have to pay that day.
“I should have been more clear that they were denied service,” Moran said. “I never meant, ‘show me your money,’ but more like ‘please pay for your food.'”
Moran also said she has not decided whether she will return to her position.