In a stark juxtaposition with what has been experienced by the gay travelers I wrote about recently - where apparently no one has been fired or disciplined much less a real apology proffered - a cashier at a Safeway store in Southwest Washington, D.C., has been fired after making an anti-gay slur while referring to a gay couple in the store. Obviously, some corporations believe in treating customers with respect and will take action against employees who fail to live up to that policy requirement. Others clearly do not. In the Safeway situation, the couple filed a complaint with the D.C. Office of Human Rights. Unfortunately, neither Texas or the home state of the gay couple violated by United Continental employee(s) have such protections. Here are highlights from the Washington Post:*
An employee at a Southwest D.C. Safeway has been fired after a Saturday incident in which a cashier used a homosexual slur, a Safeway spokesman said Thursday.
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The cashier, who worked at the Safeway at 1100 4th Street SW, used a slur when referring to a gay couple in the store, Safeway spokesman Craig Muckle said Thursday. The couple has filed a complaint with the D.C. Office of Human Rights, reported Metro Weekly.
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On Thursday, Muckle said Safeway’s human resources department had conducted an investigation, which resulted in the cashier’s termination.
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“We are truly sorry this happened in our store and are taking decisive and urgent action to ensure it does not happen again to any customer in any of the communities we serve,” said Safeway Eastern Division President Steven Neibergall in a statement. “No one should face what these customers faced, and we are humbly sorry it happened to them in our store.”
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“There are people at all levels of the organization on this,” Muckle said. “We’re trying to deal with the immediate fallout, then we’re going to look at [current policies], and we’ll determine whether changes need to be made.”
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After reading initial reports Wednesday, D.C. Councilman Tommy Wells (D-Ward 6) went on the social media web site Twitter to complain. “Unbelievable and absolutely unacceptable,” Wells wrote.
An employee at a Southwest D.C. Safeway has been fired after a Saturday incident in which a cashier used a homosexual slur, a Safeway spokesman said Thursday.
*
The cashier, who worked at the Safeway at 1100 4th Street SW, used a slur when referring to a gay couple in the store, Safeway spokesman Craig Muckle said Thursday. The couple has filed a complaint with the D.C. Office of Human Rights, reported Metro Weekly.
*
On Thursday, Muckle said Safeway’s human resources department had conducted an investigation, which resulted in the cashier’s termination.
*
“We are truly sorry this happened in our store and are taking decisive and urgent action to ensure it does not happen again to any customer in any of the communities we serve,” said Safeway Eastern Division President Steven Neibergall in a statement. “No one should face what these customers faced, and we are humbly sorry it happened to them in our store.”
*
“There are people at all levels of the organization on this,” Muckle said. “We’re trying to deal with the immediate fallout, then we’re going to look at [current policies], and we’ll determine whether changes need to be made.”
*
After reading initial reports Wednesday, D.C. Councilman Tommy Wells (D-Ward 6) went on the social media web site Twitter to complain. “Unbelievable and absolutely unacceptable,” Wells wrote.
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