‘Black people:’ Restaurant owners apologize for phrase used to describe customer
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Collierville, TN (WREG) — A Collierville restaurant is under scrutiny after a controversial message was left on a customer’s receipt.
Derrick Gray wants answers after he visited Booya’s in Collierville with a friend, and on their receipt, the words “black people” were used to identify them.
“It’s sad that I’m used to it because it happens all the time,” Gray said.
He said he immediately brought his concerns to management, but instead of a proper apology and a full refund, he said they gave him a gift card for future purchases.
“From him writing this, to someone putting it in, to the manager coming out, nobody corrected it saying ‘black people,’” Gray said.
Gray said he’s disappointed in how the restaurant handled the situation, especially having worked in food service in the past.
“We were trained where I worked, you don’t categorize by age, you don’t categorize by race or by sex, you categorize by what they have on or what table they are sitting at,” Gray said.
WREG reached out to owners Kim and Jay Kupiszewski, and they said they are sickened by what happened.
“We really feel bad for our customer,” they said. “He’s just going out there, supporting the community, having dinner, and he gets that.”
“There’s no excuse, it was stupid, it was insensitive, and it was unacceptable. Period. The end,” they said.
The owners said from their understanding, once the server took the order, he forgot the customer’s name and referred them to the cashier as just “black people.”
“We’re just trying to figure out the best course of action,” Kim Kupiszewski said. “These are two young adults who screwed up.”
As of right now, the owners said the employees are on a leave of absence. The owners said they plan on inviting the customer back to help teach a sensitivity training course for all of their employees.
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