Dunkin' Donuts to Honor Employee Who Endured Racist Customer's Abuse
The Dunkin' Donuts employee who patiently endured the racist tirade of a singularly bad customer will be recognized for his superhuman grace under fire.
18-year-old Abid Adar had the misfortune of working the counter last week when 27-year-old Taylor Chapman entered his Fort Lauderdale store to complain about another employee who had neglected to provide her with a receipt.
What started out with a belligerent demand for free food ended in a racist, Arabophobic rant that included unhinged threats to blow up the planet from Mars.
Though Chapman, a Nova Southeastern University alum with "a bachelor's degree in Business & Marketing" who claims to be "working towards my JD in Law now," earned the infamy she deserved, Adar's unwavering professionalism in the face of pure evil went unrewarded.
Until now: After being bombarded with requests to recognize Adar's handling of the situation, Dunkin' Donuts said on its Twitter feed that it plans to do just that.
An Indigogo campaign to raise money to support the "educational aspirations" of the accosted employees — Adar, who is currently earning $8 an hour, is planning on becoming a doctor — has also been launched, but is currently woefully underfunded.
"Our franchisee will b recognizing the employees 4 their efforts," Dunkin Donuts tweeted, adding the appropriately mistyped commendation, "They handled the difficult situation w/ race (sic) and patience."
A call has been placed to Dunkin' Donuts to find out exactly what the recognition entails.
UPDATE: Dunkin' Donuts has just sent us the following statement:
We commend the franchisee's crew member for handling this difficult situation with grace and patience. We believe this is a powerful example of great customer service and the respect our crew members have for our guests. The franchise owner of the restaurant has reached out to the crew member privately to express and demonstrate his personal appreciation.
We will attempt to follow up with the franchise owner to determine the nature of this "personal appreciation."
UPDATE 2: While we wait to hear from the franchise where this incident took place, here is another promising update we just received from Dunkin':
Additionally, Dunkin' Brands' leadership has reached out to the two crew members featured in the video. Both have been invited to an internal company event in Boca Raton later this month for further recognition.
[photo via Instagram, screengrab via YouTube]