Activists are calling for a boycott of Denny’s after the chain restaurant‘s alleged mistreatment of two Black truckers.
In a video uploaded to YouTube by @classiicdamo642, two Black truckers were dining in a Sioux Falls, South Dakota, Denny’s when a White waitress approached them and informed them they had to leave the restaurant or be escorted out by the police, who were allegedly “on the way.”
“What did we do?” one Black trucker asked on the video.
“I have no idea,” the White waitress responded. “I’m not in the situation, but, um, she, like, just to make it more calm, she said like, you guys could calmly leave because we, like, have a lot of people around, or the police will be on the way because they are.”
The police, as promised, arrived at the dining table.
“Can we talk outside real quick?” an officer asked on the video.
The truckers alleged the restaurant staff refused to serve them. The two truckers said they didn’t cause a disturbance or anything before the police arrived. A trucker spoke exclusively to TYT’s Rashad Richey about the situation. The trucker said his dining companion asked to order and the waitress said he didn’t like his tone. The two sides then went back and forth.
The pair of truckers have since reached out to Denny’s, but Denny’s did not respond. Once they reached out to Richey and he highlighted the story, more details came to light. For example, the 911 call for the police came from the restaurant’s manager, who wasn’t at the Denny’s at the time of the call. The off-site manager said the truckers were harassing the staff, following them around the restaurant and refusing to leave. The manager, Michael Fletcher, is also the husband of the server who argued with the truckers. In Denny’s press release, the restaurant claimed the server has since been fired.
Trucker groups have since started the hashtag “#BoycottDennys” following the sloppy way the restaurant handled the investigation.
