A Florida Wal-Mart worker was terminated after she allegedly refused service to a police officer in uniform.
An officer told a friend the cashier in question pointed to her skin color and declined to ring him up at the superstore in St. Cloud, WFTV reported.
According to the officer, a second worker laughed at the way he was treated.
An investigation began after the accusations against the store’s employee was filed by the St. Cloud Police Department.
The SCPD issued a statement regarding the incident:
In response to local inquiries concerning the allegation where an employee of Walmart refused to serve a St. Cloud Police Officer; a formal complaint has been filed with Walmart’s corporate office.
The St. Cloud Police Department trusts that Wal Mart will handle the situation properly and professionally.
The St. Cloud Police Department is grateful for the support from our community. We encourage our citizens to come by the St. Cloud Police Department to pick up their free “back the blue” bumper sticker to show their support of law-enforcement instead of participating in community protests.
The event occurred earlier in August and led to widespread criticism among members of a community Facebook group.
“That’s really wrong. I don’t think an employee should be doing that, and Walmart should issue an apology,” Hector Pozzo, who was shopping at the store, told WFMG.
Wal-Mart released a statement saying:
We take these things seriously and do not tolerate discrimination of any kind in our stores.
We value the relationships we have with law enforcement agencies throughout the country and we’ve met with the St. Cloud Police Department to address their concerns. We want everyone to be treated with respect whether they are in our stores or anywhere in the community.
The cashier who was involved in this situation no longer works in our store.
On Aug. 17, the chief of police visited the store to meet the new manager.