Arby's CEO, Police Union Leaders Meet Over Officer Scandal
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PEMBROKE PINES (CBSMiami) -- Arby's CEO Paul Brown and other executives met with the heads of the police unions in South Florida on Friday after an officer was allegedly denied service at a Pembroke Pines location.
"He's a very pleasant man," said Dade County Police Benevolent Association President John Rivera. "He assured us they would do proper training."
The clerk also met with company executives Friday morning.
Thomas McCutcheon was not happy with how Arby's controversy had played out his grandson Kenneth Davenport who was suspended with two days pay.
But by the end of the day Friday, McCutcheon had met with a Pembroke Pines Police supervisor and read the police report on the incident. Now he says his grandson's name is cleared.
"I got what I came for. They apologized, done deal, taken care of," said McCutcheon.
The Friday morning meeting comes just one day after the fast food chain also disciplined the manager involved at their Pines Boulevard location.
Brown who was in the South Florida visiting Arby's locations in the area released a statement on the matter Friday saying, "As a result of our thorough investigation, we have terminated the manager and placed the crew member on temporary paid leave. This was a complex and difficult decision, but as a company that highly values trust and fairness, we ultimately found that the crew member was not involved other than to attempt to remedy the situation. We have reviewed our process and decision with the Pembroke Pines Police Department who made it clear they consider the case closed. Arby's has a long tradition of championing the police in our communities across America and we look forward to continue to support and serve our law enforcement officials."
The company also offered an "olive branch" to local law enforcement by offering free meals to uniformed officers on Friday. Police could go into any of their Miami-Dade and Broward locations for the free meal.
Earlier in the week, Davenport and Manager Angel Mirabal created a brouhaha by joking around that they didn't want to serve a police officer because she was just that. In response, the Dade County Police Benevolent Association called on all police officers nationwide to boycott the chain.
After being informed of the incident, Brown and Senior Vice President of Operations Scott Boatwright contacted Pembroke Pines Police Chief Dan Giustino to apologize on behalf of the organization. Both men assured the chief, "the employee's behavior was unacceptable and not representative of the company's values."
Davenport said he was working Tuesday when Pembroke Pines Police Sergeant Jennifer Martin pulled up to the drive thru.
Davenport said that he couldn't serve Martin, but not because she's a police officer. He said it was because he was so busy with other customers that he had to ask his manager for help. Davenport said that's when his manager made the unfortunate joke to Martin about not being able to take her order.
"We don't hate cops," Davenport said. "We don't hate anybody. We're just trying to get people out of the drive thru."
According to a police report on the incident, the police officer was told by the manager, "(Davenport) doesn't want to serve you because you are a police officer."
After that, Martin said she wasn't certain she wanted to dine at the restaurant but the manager assured her everything was okay and handed the officer the food, according to the report.
The manager allegedly laughed about it and said Davenport was allowed to refuse to serve the officer.
That's when Martin said she was unsure about the condition of her food, decided not to eat there and asked for a refund, the report states.
The manager has said he was upset over the firing.
