Manhattan 'Drybar' Facing Blowout After Customer Spots Racist Insult On Her Receipt
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- An Astoria woman says she was stunned to see herself described as a disparaging term on a receipt at a Manhattan salon.
Briana Tae was all smiles with her friends during their NYU Nursing School pinning ceremony on Tuesday morning, doing her best not to let the upsetting incident at the Drybar in Murray Hill overshadow her special day.
"I wanted this day to be really special," Tae said. "I saw that, and I couldn't let it go."
What she saw Monday night was an offensive insult scrawled on a slip meant to be passed between workers at the business. Under the category "Description of Client" one of the employees wrote a derogatory phrase which is disparaging to people of Asian descent.
"She doesn't know who I am, and that's what she chose to identify me as," Tae said.
Tae says she confronted the employee directly, and says the woman didn't understand why she was so upset.
"That word is pretty much congruent to the 'n-word'," Tae said. "Very offensive."
When CBS2's Jessica Layton paid the east side salon a visit on Tuesday, the manager refused to answer questions. Meantime, Tae took to social media to share her experience. Most people posted that they were appalled. Some said one person's actions shouldn't define a company, while another person dismissed her complaints as "a millennial being offended."
Drybar responded to the post, saying "it's very serious to us" and asked Tae to reach out. Late Tuesday afternoon, someone from the company's corporate office told CBS2 the employee involved in the situation was no longer working there. The spokeswoman says they have zero tolerance for racism, and workers will have additional training on their zero-tolerance policy.
Tae says she wasn't looking for anyone to be fired, or for any money.
"I really would just like an apology," she said.
