CEDAR HILL, Texas, Nov. 14 (UPI) — Chili’s Bar and Grill has suspended a manager and issued an apology after taking away a meal from a black veteran during the restaurant chain’s “free meals for veterans” promotion on Veteran’s Day.
Ernest Walker, a U.S. Army veteran, said he has received an apology from the company for a manager who took back his Veteran’s Day meal after a customer suggested he was not actually a veteran, though the company has not recognized his service.
“They’re doing what they should do, but they still haven’t validated me as a soldier,” Walker said. “I just need him to say, ‘I see your ID, I see your DD214, and I respect you as a soldier, and as a man and as a customer.’”
Walker, who served in the U.S. Army’s 25th Infantry Division from 1987 to 1991, wore an Army uniform without his name or rank on it so he was not mistaken for an active duty soldier — he says he wears it once a year, on Veteran’s Day — and went to Chili’s for his free meal as part of the promotion.
As he was finishing eating, and with a to-go box next to him, an older white man approached Walker and accused him of being a fake because, he said, an actual veteran would have taken his hat off while in the building, Walker wrote in a Facebook post after the incident. “‘They didn’t let you blacks over in World War II.’ That’s exactly what he said to me, but this guy is 70-some years old,” Walker said.
The older man then walked to the back of the restaurant, and a manager came over to tell Walker that the restaurant’s customers “say you are not a military veteran.” Walker offered the manager his military identification, discharge papers and certification for his service dog, Barack — and started recording the conversation on his cell phone.
Rather than apologize, Walker says the manager took his meal “and I’m embarrassed at this point. People are looking. I’m a soldier. I’m a person, and everybody’s looking like I stole food.”
The restaurant issued multiple statements apologizing for the manager’s actions, with the company’s president saying that while more than 200,000 free meals were served to veterans and active members of the military as a “small gesture of our appreciation,” the chain still “fell short.”
“Today, we personally apologized to Mr. Walker for the unfortunate experience in our restaurant on Veterans Day and thanked him for his service to our country. We also thanked him for taking the time to speak with us and he appreciated our apology,” Chili’s said in a statement Monday. “We took swift action and immediately removed our manager from the restaurant. We are now in the process of working with Mr. Walker on a resolution that promotes trust and healing.”
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