San Francisco Waiter Fired After Allegedly Leaving Racist Slur On Black Family's Receipt
A Black family was enjoying their vacation in the Bay Area, San Francisco when what should have been a typical restaurant visit turned into an offensive ordeal.
Whitney Washington and her family were the only Black family patronizing the Pica Pica Arepa Kitchen on August 12, a latin flavors casual dining establishment located on Valencia Street.
After what they described as a normal visit, the family was shocked to receive their receipt with a racial slur printed at the top. "Here N*****s," the receipt read, according to 'KTVU 2.'
Per the news outlet, Washington immediately compared her receipt to others patrons to see if this was somehow common practice, but after realizing nobody else had received a note of any kind, she concluded that the incident was a targeted move.
"My daughter is actually the one who notices in the upper right-hand corner that it says what it says. 'Here the N-word,'" Washington stated, per the news outlet. "We were the only Black people in the restaurant. She showed us her receipt, and in the same spot where ours said, 'Here the N-word.' Hers only said 'here,'" Washington said of another customer's receipt.
Washington brought her concerns up with the waiter — who didn't have much to say and reportedly wasn't alarmed by the incident. "Do you know what this means?" Washington asked the waiter, who responded with a simple: "I don't know how that got there."
Although there was no manager on duty at the time of their visit, a manger caught wind of the altercation the next day, and immediately wrangled the situation. She immediately fired the waiter who served Washington and her family, admitting that the fiasco was "Totally unacceptable."
"We fired the employee right away. I didn't know what is going on," a manager 'KTVU' identified as Vena, told the outlet. Vena later stated that the employee offered no explanation for what happened, but also threatened to sue the establishment for the termination.
Taking accountability a step further, managers created a prompt for the website to address both the public and their customers of the ill-fated incident that took place at their establishment. The notice revealed they've taken steps to remedy the fiasco and will continue to welcome all customers.
"My name is Vena, the manager, and a woman minority owner of small business, Pica Pica. Pica Pica has been in the Bay Area community for 18 years, supporting the community in many different ways, including when we delivered 40,000 meals during Covid to Homeless shelters," the prompt began.
They concluded: "We are truly sorry for the harm this has caused to the customers that received this treatment and for anyone else who has been impacted by this terrible incident. We sincerely apologize for the harm and hurt this action has caused."
Washington's family returned to Maryland, admitting that the shocking incident didn't stop them from enjoying the beauty and diversity in SF.
"That is not a term I use in my home," she concluded per the news outlet. "I don't use that word, we don't call people that word and nobody calls us that word."
