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Black man says Chick-fil-A employee printed ‘monkeys’ on his receipt

Vaseline September 2, 2024

A Maryland man is sharing an alleged incident of racism at his local Chick-fil-A after an employee called his takeout order for “Monkeys” instead of his name “Marquise.”

Marquise Vanzego told TODAY.com that he went to pick up a meal after work on Aug. 23 and placed his order with someone working the drive-thru.

Vanzego, a Black man who lives in La Plata, Maryland, tells TODAY.com that when he first heard an employee call out the animal’s name, he thought it couldn’t possibly be his. But when the employee confirmed it was a single order of chicken strips, fries and an iced tea/lemonade for someone in a white van, his heart sank.

Vanzego describes how he felt when he realized the assignment was meant for him. He says the physical sensation wasn’t all that different from grieving or going through a breakup: “Your heart feels a little bit of pain,” he says, “that’s what it felt like.”

“You start thinking about all the other incidents that have happened and that you’ve heard about on the news regarding racial profiling,” Vanzego continues.

A photo of the receipt from Marquise Vanzego's Chick-fil-A drive-thru order. — A photo of the receipt from Marquise Vanzego’s Chick-fil-A drive-thru order.Thanks to Marquise Vanzego

He says he immediately spoke to the manager on duty, who apologized and offered to refund the order. He also later spoke to Kevin, a store manager who was not present at the time of the incident.

TODAY.com spoke to Kevin, who declined to comment and did not respond to our request to contact the store’s owner, John Flatley.

Vanzego recorded his conversation with the manager on duty and captured what happened when he decided to walk inside instead of waiting in his car for the manager to return.

He posted the videos — along with a letter he wrote and sent to Chick-fil-A — to both Instagram and Facebook, where they received widespread public attention.

While some commentators supported him, others questioned whether it was the fault of the employee or a shoddy drive-thru intercom system. Vanzego tells TODAY.com that although he ordered through the drive-thru, there was no intercom system involved; he placed his order directly with a “young, male” person who was standing outside greeting customers.

Vanzego says he spoke with Flatley in the days following the Aug. 23 incident. He apologized but said he would not fire the employee because he was reportedly under 18. Vanzego says he was told the employee was simply writing down the name he had heard. (When a similar incident occurred at a Starbucks in Maryland in 2022, the employee was suspended.)

The marketing director for the La Plata location — which is a franchise and separate from the company-owned Chick-fil-A restaurants — declined TODAY.com’s request for comment, referring us to corporate publicity managers. The corporate office says it cannot speak for the franchise locations but provided the following statement:

“This Chick-fil-A is an independently owned and operated franchise. The franchisee of this restaurant has apologized to the guest. However, this experience did not meet our expectations and is unacceptable.”

Vanzego says he hasn’t heard anything from head office yet.

Vanzego says he requested to speak directly to the employee who took his order the night of the incident and his request was denied, but he hopes they are “socially aware” of the impact their actions had on him.

“I believe he should be held accountable for what he did,” Vanzego told TODAY.com.

He says people on social media asked him for sympathy for the employee.

“I understand, he’s a young man, he’s 17, he’s still learning,” Vanzego adds, “but he also needs to know that there are consequences when you do something like that.” Speaking of his own children, who are now adults, he says, “when they did things, they had to deal with the consequences.”