SandyMaloneAllentown, PA – A paramedic in Allentown got a denied service At Dunkin’ Donuts on Thursday night for looking too much like a police officer.
A paramedic posting on Facebook as Brandon Selig said that he and his partner went to Dunkin’ Donuts on Cedar Crest Boulevard, in uniform, to get coffee during their shift.
The employee behind the counter told his partner that she “won’t serve cops,” Selig reported.
His partner informed her that he was a paramedic, not a police officer, but she still refused to serve him.
Selig said the other employee had to take his partner’s order, but then nobody made his coffee as they stood around waiting.
At that point, Selig said he decided to give it a shot.
“Then, I proceeded to go to order hash browns (because who doesn’t love Dunkin hash browns) and [the employee] was sitting socializing with other customers presumably her friends and wouldn’t even get up to take my order,” Selig posted.
He said his coworkers frequent that Dunkin Donuts location, but going forward, he’d be taking his business elsewhere.
Selig closed his post with hashtags that sent the clear message he supported law enforcement. #backtheblue #thinblueline #onefamily #gotyoursix
His post went viral in the first responder community nationwide within a few hours.
Early Friday afternoon, Selig made another post to update everyone and said he’d heard from “many individuals” that “the employee was immediately fired this morning due to her actions last night.”
Blue Lives Matter contacted the Dunkin Donuts franchise, and spoke with the district manager, Snith Shah.
Shah said that initially the employee, who had only been working for Dunkin Donuts for two days, denied the allegation.
However, Shah showed her the surveillance video that supported Selig’s complaint.
After seeing herself on the video, the new employee quit before she could be fired, Shah said.
“I really apologize to those guys,” Shah said.
She said Selig and his partner are regulars at her location and that she respects them very much because they “save lives.”
To make up for the mistreatment, the location has offered to throw a party for their unit.
“Sorry is not enough for this one. Sorry is little word. Sorry
is nothing. Because this incident is very big and I feel really, really bad,” Shah said.
Selig, for his part, is satisfied with what he’s heard.
In his follow-up post, he said he feels “continued patronage of this business is acceptable because the employer obviously stands behind first responders, and will not tolerate disrespectful employees to any degree.”
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