Fact check: Five Guys employees terminated, suspended, after refusing service to police

McKenzie Sadeghi, USA TODAY
·4 min read

The claim: A group of Five Guys employees were fired for refusing service to police.

Some social media users are calling for a boycott of Five Guys restaurants after news circulated online that police officers were refused service.

“FIRED FIVE GUYS BURGER EMPLOYEES SAID, “WE DON’T SERVE COPS”! YOU KNOW WHAT FIVE GUYS GOT TO DO. LOUDLY BE PRO-AMERICAN & POLICE,” the July 15 Facebook post reads.

Another user on July 8 wrote, "Wow! Another company wants. to bankrupt themselves. FIVE GUYS BURGERS refuses service to POLICE!"

One user shared a screenshot of a local news story about the alleged incident, captioning the post, “I’m done with Five Guys! Every one of those employees should be sent walking.”

The claim comes amid rising tension between law enforcement and service workers following nationwide protests against systematic racism and police brutality spurred by the death of George Floyd.

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Five Guys employees terminated, suspended

On July 7, a group of Five Guys employees were, in fact, fired or suspended for allegedly refusing to serve Alabama police officers, USA TODAY reported.

Three officers of the Daphne Police Department arrived at a Five Guys location inside of a shopping center. The officers returned to their vehicles to grab face masks to comply with the restaurant’s mask requirement, FOX 10 reported. After returning, the police officers allege the employees refused to serve them.

The officers claim they overheard an employee saying, "I'm not serving them," and the officers then left and went to another restaurant.

A Five Guys corporate spokesperson told Fox 10 that the company is still actively investigating the situation.

Other local news outlets also reported on the situation, including NBC 15, WKRG and WHNT 19.

NBC 15 reported that people gathered outside of the Five Guys restaurant in Daphne to show support for police after social media rumors.

Five Guys, police department respond

On July 8, the Daphne Police Department posted on Facebook to clarify misinformation that was being spread on social media.

The Daphne Police Department said it appreciated the "outpouring of support" from the community and thanked "Five Guys on a corporate and local level," adding that the department does not think the actions of a few employees represents the restaurant as a whole.

Five Guys took to Facebook on July 10 to address the situation following news reports and social media posts, confirming that the involved employees were terminated or suspended.

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"Five Guys and the Daphne, AL franchise want to thank the Daphne Police Department for their support in working together toward a resolution. The actions of the Daphne, AL franchise have taken include termination and suspension of the employees involved," the restaurant wrote. "The store has temporarily closed for further education and customer service training with a representative from the Daphne Police Department and will reopen at 4PM today, July 10th."

The statement added that the actions of the employees at the Daphne location do not represent Five Guys.

Daphne Mayor Dane Haygood also posted to Facebook on July 10 that "a seemingly appropriate response has been issued by the local business involved in the incident on Tuesday evening in which Daphne Police Department were disrespected and refused service by some employees of the establishment."

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In its post, the police department further clarified that all three officers were wearing masks the entire time they were inside of the establishment and that it is continuing to work with Five Guys toward a resolution "once all the facts are known."

Five Guys has not yet responded to USA TODAY's request for an update regarding what transpired.

Our ruling: True

It is true that Five Guys fired and suspended some of its employees at its Daphne, Alabama, location after they refused service to police officers, according to statements and media reports. However, as noted by Five Guys and the police department, the actions of the employees do not reflect the restaurant as a whole, despite posts that claim otherwise. We rate this claim as TRUE based on our research.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Fact check: Five Guys acted after employees refused to serve police