Five Guys Fires Teen Employee for Calling Cops ‘Piggies’

A 17-year-old Five Guys employee in New Jersey was fired from his job Friday evening after he called three police officers who entered the eatery “piggies.”

Five Guys District Manager Cortney Pechillo told the Asbury Park Press that the employee, who had worked at the establishment for about a year, had been fired within minutes of the incident around 8 p.m.

NJ.com reported that other employees “laughed” at the insult, but Pechillo said they were merely laughing because they were uncomfortable.

“I waited on the phone until he left,” Pechillo said of the call she got from the location’s manager. “I spoke to (Howell Police Chief Andrew Kudrick) on the phone and told him we don’t want that in our business and won’t tolerate it.”

One of three police officers from the Howell Police Department who stopped to get dinner from the fast food joint overheard the slurs, along with another customer, according to Stephen Gilmartin, the owner of the Howell Five Guys and other Five Guys locations in Monmouth and Ocean Counties.

In response to the incident, the fast food restaurant is hosting a fundraiser for the Howell PBA Local 228 Wednesday evening from 5 to 7 p.m.

Gilmartin said the proceeds from the fundraiser would go to support the PBA.

Howell Police Chief Andrew Kudrick posted on the department’s Facebook page Saturday to let the public know he had a “meaningful” conversation with Pechillo and the owner at the police department’s headquarters.

 

“I am confident this incident was handled swiftly and appropriately. The employee was terminated even before this incident made it to social media. I believe this is to be an isolated incident caused by a poor decision by a part-time employee,” the Howell Police Department wrote on Facebook Saturday.

“It is definitely not the culture of this business. In fact , management and ownership is overwhelmingly supportive of law enforcement. This includes not only how they handled this incident but their previous history as well,” the post continued.