Server who printed 'BLACK PPL' on receipt speaks out
Fox 7 has an update on a local story that's getting national attention. Three days after an African-American couple complained about a receipt that had "black people" printed on it, the server who printed it on there, shared his side of the story exclusively with Fox 7.
"That's kind of messed up that you have to put your own people down and be racist on your receipts," Rolman Sparkman, IHOP customer, said.
That's exactly what former IHOP server Dwayne Williams says he was not trying to do when he typed "black people" (spelled "black ppl) on a receipt. He said the restaurant was severely understaffed when Sparkman and his girlfriend Arainia Brown came in to place a to-go order.
"Me and this other server had to take care of the entire restaurant, also answer the phones as far as to-go orders," Williams said.
He said it is normal for him to ask for the customer's name at the to-go counter.
"There's a million different ways to describe people. In my rush, in my haste, the names from what I understand are the best thing to get, but I did forget that," he said.
Williams, who is also black, said the couple was very nice and even tipped him well, which is uncommon for many to-go orders.
He added, if the couple came to him about the receipt, at the time, he would've explained himself.
"As a human being, if you bring something to me, I'll let you know honestly. So I would've told them it wasn't anything for the kitchen, it wasn't anything for you, it was for me to know who to bring this to," he said.
Williams was fired within an hour of the incident. He said it was not his intention to offend the couple and he has a message for them:
"We are people, and just like them, looking in the mirror, I'm black and I'm proud to be black," he said.
Listen to FOX 7's Bridget Spencer interview with IHOP server Dwayne Williams here.
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