Dunkin' Donuts is under fire after a manager offered a reward for customers to report workers for shouting 'in a language other than ENGLISH'
- A sign in a Dunkin' Donuts store in Baltimore, Maryland, apparently told customers to report any employees shouting "in a language other than ENGLISH" to the general manager, according to WBAL-TV.
- Customers were offered coupons and free food in exchange for reporting the employees.
- Dunkin' Donuts told Business Insider that the sign was originally posted in an effort to deal with "a customer service and satisfaction issue" and has since been removed.
Dunkin' Donuts is under fire after a sign was spotted at a Baltimore location offering rewards to customers who reported employees for speaking languages other than English.
On Monday, Gillian Morley, a news producer at WBAL-TV, posted a photo on Twitter of a sign in a Baltimore Dunkin' Donuts location.
The sign, apparently written by the general manager, reads: "If you hear any of our staff SHOUTING in a language other than ENGLISH, Please call 443-415-7775 immediately with the name of the employee to receive a coupon for FREE Coffee and a pastry."
"General manager posted a sign asking customers to report employees not speaking English," Morely tweeted. "Even offering a reward."
When reporters from WBAL-TV called the number, the man who answered said the sign was old and that he was no longer the general manager at that specific Dunkin' Donuts location. He also said he had put up a similar sign in the past, and that customers had complained.
"Dunkin' Donuts and our franchisees share the goal of creating a welcoming and hospitable environment for all guests," a company spokesperson said in an email to Business Insider.
"The franchise owner has informed us that the sign was posted by their general manager based on her own personal judgment to ensure those standards are being met. While her intent was to address a customer service and satisfaction issue, the franchisee determined her approach was inappropriate and confirmed the sign has been removed," the representative continued.
There has been a spotlight on how customers are treated at restaurant chains since the arrest of two black men at a Philadelphia Starbucks in April. However, there has been less coverage of chains' employees and the bias that they face. For example, several former and current Starbucks baristas told Business Insider that they had also faced discrimination on the job.
"I have been asked not to make someone's drink while they spoke to me in mock Spanish, asking me to have my white coworker make the drink instead," Angela De La Torre, a 21-year-old Mexican-American who has worked at Starbucks for a year, said.
She continued: "I have been called 'rude' and asked to 'please speak English' while sharing private conversations with other Spanish-speaking coworkers. Other Latino coworkers have been told to 'go back to Mexico' and that they're stealing a good job from someone 'from here.'"