A Dunkin’ Donuts manager in Baltimore will be speaking to her superiors after posting a sign encouraging customers to report any employee who speaks in a language other than English, Yahoo News is reporting.
The sign was posted on the counter where it was seen by none other than a reporter for Baltimore radio station WBAL. The reporter, Gillian Morley, posted a picture of the sign on her Twitter account.
This sign is being displayed at a @dunkindonuts in Baltimore. General manager posted a sign asking customers to report employees not speaking English. Even offering a reward. #shocking pic.twitter.com/1kUr0lcYuY
— Gillian Morley (@GillianMorley_) June 18, 2018
Soon, the sign had become the topic of discussion around Baltimore, according to WBAL .
“Why would the general manager be OK with employees yelling in English? Why would he be fine with them yelling at all? This is weird. We’re going to find out this is something weird.”
A WBAL reporter called the number on the sign, and a man who answered the phone, who identified himself as the store’s former general manager, said the sign had been taken down. However, the unidentified man also said that he had put up a similar sign in the past, saying that customers had complained about “it.”
What “it” means is unclear, whether referring to the sign or to employees not speaking English.
Huffington Post , on the other hand, called that number, and the man who answered the phone said the sign “must be at another store.”
Regardless of who is responsible and when which sign was put up where and by whom, once WBAL started making phone calls, both to the management of the shopping center where the store was and to Dunkin’ Donuts’ corporate management, the sign came down.
Baltimore Dunkin’ Donuts asks customers to rat out non-English speaking staff https://t.co/w2E3K89G4F pic.twitter.com/eqfDSBVco1
— Eater (@Eater) June 18, 2018
Contacted by Huffington Post , Dunkin’ Donuts spokeswoman Lindsay A. Cronin said that the manager’s decision to put up the sign, while showing bad judgment, came from a place of good intentions. Specifically, she was concerned about “creating a welcoming and hospitable environment for all guests.” Specifically, it was a “customer satisfaction issue,” as apparently some customers did not like the idea of employees speaking to each other in a language other than English.
The company also confirmed that the sign has been removed.
This is not the first time the issue of what language employees speak has become an issue. In May, a viral video showed a New York attorney going into an expletive-laden rant against two restaurant employees who were speaking Spanish to each other. As CNBC reported at the time, Aaron Schlossberg was captured on video threatening to call Immigration on the two women.
