Fast food restaurant cashier and her manager are FIRED for refusing to serve an Army veteran cop

Two fast food chain workers were fired over the weekend after one of them refused to serve a police officer in uniform who was trying to order a meal at a North Carolina eatery.

The altercation occurred at the Cook Out restaurant on Madison Boulevard, Roxboro, when army veteran and long-serving police officer Kenneth Horton visited the chain but was denied service by the cashier.

The police sergeant, who is black, never reported the incident to his superiors but word of Horton’s encounter at the restaurant spread through the local town and over social media, ahead of Veterans Day celebrations. 

Roxboro Police Chief David Hess said he was left incredibly disappointed when he heard about Horton being refused service, insisting it goes against the message of unity the department strives to instill in the local community.

Kenneth Horton

Kenneth Horton (left and right) never reported the incident to his superiors, but word of Horton’s encounter at the restaurant spread through the local town and over social media, ahead of Veteran’s Day celebrations

The altercation occurred at the Cook Out restaurant on Madison Boulevard, Roxboro over the weekend. Two fast food chain workers were fired the next day

The altercation occurred at the Cook Out restaurant on Madison Boulevard, Roxboro over the weekend. Two fast food chain workers were fired the next day 

‘We’re saddened that an employee denied service to a police officer. We promote unity. The public here knows that. And, unfortunately, this incident has created a divide but it is only because of a small action that could have been avoided,’ Hess told ABC11.

As the story continued to gain traction online, senior level employees at Cook Out took the unilateral decision to terminate the employment of both the cashier responsible and the manger on shift that afternoon.

Chief Hess said the police department didn’t contact Cook Out corporate to have the employee fired, rather the chain ‘took it upon themselves’ to take action.

The manager, who identified herself as a mother-of-four who had worked at Cook Out for more than a decade, told the station she wished the cashier had asked her to come to the front to take Horton’s order, rather than asked another cashier to do it.

‘If a cashier doesn’t feel comfortable taking somebody else’s order, it’s not wrong for them to ask somebody else do it or contact the manager,’ the former manager, who didn’t want to named, said of the chain’s policy of refusing service.

It remains unclear why the employee didn’t want to serve Horton in the first place. However, the following day she was fired by the eatery’s district manager, along with her superior.

It remains unclear why the employee didn’t want to serve Horton in the first place. However, the following day she was fired by the eatery’s district manager, along with her superior.

Roxboro Police Chief David Hess (above) said he was left incredibly disappointed when he heard about Horton be refused service, insisting it goes against the message of unity the department strives to instill in the local community.

Roxboro Police Chief David Hess (above) said he was left incredibly disappointed when he heard about Horton be refused service, insisting it goes against the message of unity the department strives to instill in the local community.

The manager, who identified herself as a mother-of-four who had worked at Cook Out for more than a decade, told the station she wished the cashier had asked her to come to the front to take Horton’s order, rather than asked another cashier to do it.

The manager, who identified herself as a mother-of-four who had worked at Cook Out for more than a decade, told the station she wished the cashier had asked her to come to the front to take Horton’s order, rather than asked another cashier to do it.

It remains unclear why the employee didn’t want to serve Horton in the first place, but he was in uniform at the time, Chief Hess confirmed to DailyMail.com.

The following day the cashier was fired by the eatery’s district manager, along with her superior.

‘[The district manager] told me that I should have went outside and got the officer’s attention and, I guess, offered to take his order,’ the ex-manager reflected.

But contrary to protocol, the woman told ABC she wouldn’t have felt comfortable – or safe – going outside to take the officer’s order having not been directly involved in the incident herself or having a detailed knowledge about the circumstances surrounding the fallout.

‘I’m mad. I’m pissed. I was hurt,’ said the former manager. ‘I just got to find something else. I got bills, kids and Christmas is coming up.’

Cook Out are yet to release a public statement regarding the incident. Officials from the chain have not yet responded to a DailyMail.com request for comment.

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk