Chipotle has offered to rehire Dominique Martin, the manager they fired after she refused serve a group of dine-and-dashers. (AP Photo/Alan Diaz, File)
Chipotle is backtracking on its decision to fire one of its managers for refusing to serve five black men unless they paid in advance.
The story, when it initially broke, was viewed as an example of blatant racism. As more details about the story have come out, however, evidence has piled up that the story might not be what it’s seemed, and now, Chipotle is admitting that it may have reacted too soon.
This story first broke when Masud Ali, one of the men refused service, put a video of the incident up on Twitter on Friday.
Ali presented the incident as if they’d been refused because of their skin color, complaining: “Can a group of young well established African American [sic] get a bite to eat after a long workout session?” and later adding: “So when a WHITE woman walks in you change your policy of ‘show us income before you get served’?”
He encouraged Twitter users to call the company and complain, posting the store’s phone number online.
The post went viral, and Chipotle reacted quickly, very publicly denouncing and firing the manager filmed in the video.
Over the weekend, however, more and more facts came out in the case. Ali’s criminal record become public, followed by tweets he’d put up in the past boasting about dining and dashing.
“We finna goto Applebees and eat as much as we can and tip the nice lady 20cents and walk,” he boasted in one tweet, which has since been deleted. In another, he joked: “we’re just borrowing the food for a couple hours that’s all”.
Others were even more blatant. In one, he outright fretted:
“Aye man i think chipotle catchin up to us fam. should we change locations”
Other employees, likewise, came forward, backing up the story that Ali and his friends dine-and-dash at the store on a regular basis.
The manager herself, Dominique Moran, told the Daily Mail that the group’s scheme was to come in with a credit card that didn’t work. They would pretend that they were going to pay and then when the card was denied, rush out of the store with the food they hadn’t paid for.
“We now have additional information which needs to be investigated further,” Chipotle spokeswoman Laurie Schalow told the Associated Press. “We want to do the right thing, so after further investigation, we will re-train and re-hire if the facts warrant it.”
Moran, for her part, has not yet accepted their offer.
“My image has been inaccurately depicted by millions because of a story that is prevalent but nonetheless, false,” Moran wrote in a tweet. “We are not done.”
Dave Noriega and special guess Mary Richards talk about this issue on the air, and Dave says that Dominique Moran should refuse to take her job back.
Find out why by listening to the Dave & Dujanovic podcast:
Dave & Dujanovic can be heard weekdays from 9 a.m. to noon on KSL Newsradio. Users can find the show on the KSL Newsradio website and app, as well as Apple Podcasts and Google Play.