Topeka, Kansas, Police Officers Say McDonalds Employees Put Mustard In Their Drinks

One or more employees of a Topeka, Kansas, McDonald’s has been putting mustard in police officers’ drinks, and members of a law-enforcement support group on social media are not happy.

As KSNT (Topeka) reports, the Facebook page Kansas GOING BLUE reported Sunday afternoon that an officer with the Topeka Police Department had visited a McDonald’s location in North Topeka and placed his or her order, only to find something rather disgusting in their drink.

https://www.facebook.com/kansasgoingblue/photos/a.685121681623861.1073741829.684626918340004/897658047036889/?type=3&permPage=1

As it turns out, Sunday’s incident was not the first time that a police officer had visited that Topeka McDonald’s to find mustard in their drink. Two weeks earlier, a Kansas State Trooper had apparently gotten the same treatment.

Speaking to the Topeka Capital-Journal, and administrator for the Facebook group, who declined to be identified, claimed that they employee who allegedly put the mustard in the drink sent a message to the Topeka Police Department. The group administrator did not disclose the contents of that supposed message, and the Topeka Police Department did not comment on the matter, according to WIBW (Topeka).

Gary Vaughn, a manger at the McDonald’s in question, said that the matter had been “handled internally,” but did not comment further.

In a statement, Dobski & Associates, the franchisee of the McDonald’s in question, promised “swift action.”

“All customers, including local law enforcement officers who protect and serve our communities, are always welcome at our restaurants. Immediately upon learning of this complaint, we began our own internal investigation to gather the facts. We take these complaints very seriously and will take swift action once our investigation is complete.”

Inside and outside of Topeka, police are finding out that their business is not always welcome, in particular at fast food places.

For example, at a Whataburger in Texas, according to Consumerist, an employee refused to serve a police officer — a decision that cost him (the employee) his job. The cops in question said the employee told them he wouldn’t be serving them, then without another word, turned and walked away. The cops crossed the street and went to Dairy Queen.

Whataburger apologized.

“We were appalled to hear of an employee refusing service to two officers, as we have proudly served first responders across our system for decades. As soon as we heard of this isolated incident, we began our own internal investigation overnight. The employee that refused service is no longer employed with Whataburger. We’ve also invited the officers back today so we can apologize in person and make this right.”

.@Whataburger giving officers, first responders in the #SanAntonio area free food all day Thanksgiving https://t.co/Nnauw5JTP1 #satx pic.twitter.com/8r3D23h7TB

— mySA (@mySA) November 24, 2016

A few weeks before the Whataburger incident, an employee at a Florida Arby’s was similarly fired for refusing to serve a police officer, also according to Consumerist.

And in a case out of Georgia, reported by the Inquisitr in late September, a woman went to a Macon Walmart to have a cake baked for her father’s retirement from the police force. The woman wanted a cake that bore a black and white American flag with a single blue line — a symbol of police forces across the country. The baker refused, claiming the symbol was racist.

In case you were wondering, it is not a crime to refuse service to police officers. To run afoul of federal anti-discrimination laws, you’d have to deny service to someone because they were a member of a “protected class” — that is, because of the color of their skin, or their nationality or religion. However, refusing to serve a cop — or anyone, for that matter — will almost certainly cost you your job. Especially if you’re a low-level worker at a fast food place.

As of this writing, the names of neither the Topeka McDonald’s employee who allegedly put mustard in an officer’s drink, nor the officer involved in the incident, have been released.

[Featured Image by InesBazdar/Shutterstock]