A Maryland man, Marquise Vanzego, has accused his local Chick-fil-A of racism after receiving his to-go order with the name “Monkeys” on it. Vanzego, who is Black, ordered chicken strips, fries, and a drink at the LaPlata drive-thru on August 23.
He was shocked when an employee called out “Monkeys” instead of his name, realizing it was his order. “Your heart has that little sting in it, that’s what it felt like,” he told TODAY.
“You start to think about all the other incidents that may have occurred that you heard about on the news with racial profiling.”
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Vanzego spoke with the on-duty manager at Chick-fil-A, who apologized for the incident and offered to refund his order.
He shared a video of his attempt to confront the drive-thru employee inside the Chick-fil-A and how the manager denied him the opportunity.
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While some social media commenters blamed the drive-thru intercom for the offensive misprint, Vanzego clarified to TODAY that he placed his order directly with a “young white male” employee standing outside the store.
The store owner, John Flatley, informed Vanzego that the employee responsible for the incident would not be terminated due to their age. He also explained that the employee had written down the name they heard.
“This Chick-fil-A is independently franchised and operated. The franchisee of this restaurant has apologized to the guest,” Chick-fil-A’s corporate marketing department told TODAY of the incident. “However, this experience does not meet our expectations and is unacceptable.”
Vanzego said he hoped the employee in question would become more “socially aware” after the incident.
“I believe that he should be held accountable for what he’s done,” Vanzego said. He stated that when his own children, now adults, misbehaved, they faced consequences for their actions.
“I understand, he’s a young man, he’s 17, he’s still learning. But he also needs to know that there are consequences when you do things like that.”
