Pizza Joint Worker Fired After Writing Offending Message On Austin Police Officer's Receipt

AUSTIN, TX — An employee at a popular pizza joint has been fired after handing a police officer a receipt with the word "pig" and a pair of curse scrawled on it, according to news reports.

A representative of Southside Flying Pizza told KVUE the worker was fired on Saturday after the offending receipt incident. The business also plans to donate $1,000 to the Police Officers Memorial Foundation to make amends for the incident.

Southside Flying Pizza General Manager David Hatley confirmed in an email to the American-Statesman on Sunday that a restaurant employee was fired after giving an Austin police officer the offending receipt: “We are deeply appalled, and the employee has been let go,” Hatley’s email reads, according to the newspaper.

Despite the general manager's actions in response, employees told KVUE the remaining employees of the business have gotten death threats as a result of the rogue worker's actions. The manager told the news station the employee was fired late Saturday night.

The Austin Police Department subsequently issued a statement in response to the incident: “While it is unfortunate one of our Austin police officers encountered this situation, like in all cases it is a reflection of one employee’s actions, not that of the owner/s or other employees of the restaurant. When the incident was brought to the restaurant’s attention it was immediately addressed and a donation was made to a nonprofit that supports law enforcement.”

It's unclear which of the three Southside Flying Pizza locations was the one where the incident occurred. The business operates three locations on 1224 S. Lamar Boulevard, 2206 S. Congress Avenue and 2702
E. Cesar Chavez Street.

Ironically, Southside Flying Pizza is known for its philanthropic efforts, donating 1 percent of all its Internet-based orders to the Texas School for the Deaf at 1102 S. Congress Ave.

On a Facebook page, reactions from residents was mixed with some vowing never to patronize the establishment again and others noting the altered receipt was the work of a lone employee and not reflective of the staff's attitudes as a whole.

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