Arby's Employee Refused Cop Service, Department Says

No shirt, no shoes, no service is a common mantra in the restaurant trade. Police uniform, no service is not.

But, that’s what the Pembroke Pines Police Department says happened to one of its officers who attempted to grab some Arby’s on the go Tuesday evening. The department said an employee at a local Arby’s refused the police officer service simply because she is an officer.

Chief Dan Giustino has expressed outrage over the incident at the 11755 Pines Blvd. Arby’s.

“I am offended and appalled that an individual within our community would treat a police officer in such a manner,” Giustino said in a media release. “It is unacceptable, and I will be contacting the Arby’s CEO to demand an apology,”

True to his word, Giustino did contact Arby’s corporate headquarters by phone.

“Immediately following, Arby’s Chief Executive Officer, Paul Brown, and Senior Vice President of Operations, Scott Boatwright, contacted Chief Giustino to convey their sincere apologies on behalf of their organization,” the release stated.

Brown and Boatwright told Giustino the employee’s behavior was not representative of the company’s values. They also said the action was unacceptable. It is unclear whether the employee has been disciplined.

The incident, Giustino said, was isolated and happened to occur on the same evening a mother and her daughter visited police headquarters to deliver cookies and a “thank-you” card.

“We are very proud of the partnerships we have built within our city, and for an incident like this to have happened is very disappointing for everyone,” Giustino said.

Arby’s has announced plans to take disciplinary actions against the employees involved.

“We take this isolated matter very seriously as we respect and support police officers in our local communities,” Jason Rollins, Arby’s manager of corporate communications, wrote in an email to Patch. “As soon as this issue was brought to our attention, our CEO spoke with the police chief who expressed his gratitude for our quick action and indicated the case is closed.”

Rollins said Arby’s intends to follow up with team members to ensure the company’s police of inclusion is understood and followed.

“Further, we will be following through with disciplinary action up to and including termination of the employees involved, as appropriate,” Rollins wrote.

Tuesday’s alleged refusal of service comes amid a backdrop of several fatal shootings of law enforcement officers across the country. According to the Officer Down Memorial page, there have been 83 line-of-duty officer deaths since 2015 began, many involving gunfire.

The month of August alone witnessed six fatal shootings of police officers across the country, including the death of Deputy Sheriff Darren H. Goforth in Harris County, Texas. Goforth was shot multiple times while pumping gas into his patrol car.

On Tuesday, Lt. Charles Joseph Gliniewicz of the Fox Lake Police Department, in Illinois, was killed in the line of duty.

Patch file photo

Editor’s note: This story was updated at 4:42 p.m. with a statement from Arby’s corporate.