Whataburger Fires Employee Who Refused to Serve Two Police Officers

The managers of a Whataburger location in Denison, Texas, have fired an employee Saturday after she refused to serve two police officers.

The Dallas Morning News reports that the female employee claimed the reason she refused to serve the officers was because Denison police officers allegedly “beat up” her boyfriend.

Denison Police Chief Jay Burch wrote in a Facebook post that these allegations were untrue and that no one was injured while they were carrying out a routine arrest.

The female employee reportedly swore at the officers while the on-duty manager told the officers, “I don’t get into politics,” according to the post.

“I guarantee you when they call 911 and need us, we’ll come running,” Chief Burch’s post said. “That’s what cops do.”

Although Burch did not identify the restaurant, another Denison officer pointed out that the incident took place at the city’s Whataburger, according to the Dallas Morning News.

Whataburger’s corporate office released a statement Saturday afternoon apologizing for the issue:

We took swift action and this person is no longer employed by us. We’ve also reached out to the police sergeant to apologize and plan to speak with the other officers involved to apologize in person and make this right. Whataburger truly appreciates our law enforcement and their efforts to protect and serve our communities.

A company representative added that “retraining will occur for all other Family Members involved,” including the manager who witnessed the incident.

A similar incident took place at a Whataburger location in Lewisville, Texas, in 2015 when an employee said he would not serve two off-duty police officers.