Chipotle Offers Manager Fired After Viral Video Her Job Back
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- The manager at a Chipotle in St. Paul not only has her job back, she got a full apology from the company.
It all started after a viral video led them to promptly fire the manager.
Masud Ali posted the video on his Twitter page Friday. It's been viewed more than seven million times. It shows the manager asking the men to prove that they could pay before they got served.
This video is the talk of nation. As reaction exploded online, a new revelation popped up on the very same Twitter account. Tweets appearing to be by the man who posted the video, talking about dining and dashing, mentioning Chipotle by name.
Some people were more than upset that the manager was fired. Some of her friends even set up a GoFundMe page that has since raised almost $1,200. A Change.org petition has also massed more than 1,400 supporters.
And late Monday, the company who quickly fired the manager apologized, saying:
We have spent the last few days reviewing the evidence available to us regarding the incident in St. Paul, MN. Based on our review, we have offered our manager her job back. 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.
Our policy is to treat our customers and employees fairly and with respect at all times and under any circumstances. We will work with all our restaurant teams to ensure they are prepared to handle situations of this kind and know they have our full support. We are committed to doing the right thing and acting in a manner consistent with a thoughtful, fact-driven approach.
Minneapolis based crisis PR expert Bob McNaney of Padilla says it's a complicated situation.
"It's difficult when cell phones are out there recording everything because you get a snapshot of what took place and it moves so quickly on social and the expectation is for the company to react quickly. If you are really concerned with due process and getting it right, you've got to slow down and make sure you're not moving fast just for the sake of moving fast," McNaney said.
Things may now be finally slowing down, the manager saying on Twitter: