Chick-Fil-A Landed Itself In Hot Water Over A Controversial Tweet
The untold truth of Chick-fil-A is that it's no stranger to controversy. As recently as this summer, a Decatur, Georgia branch of the company has been fending off a discrimination lawsuit (via Washington Post). Transgender employee Erin Taylor faced sexual harassment at work from day one. When Taylor tried to report the troubling behavior to her employer, she was told that, because of her trans status, "it should be an honor [...] that someone liked her enough to hit on her."
This isn't the first time Chick-fil-A has come under fire for discrimination. In 2011, according to GLAAD, former Chick-fil-A employee Brenda Honeycutt claimed a widespread "pattern of discrimination against female employees, who, after being terminated, were also replaced by male employees" at Chick-fil-As throughout Northern Georgia. Honeycutt herself was let go on the grounds that she should be a "stay home mother" instead. Despite her exemplary work record at the restaurant, she was promptly replaced by a male employee. Honeycutt soon found that there were others in the area with stories just like her. That lawsuit was filed in May of 2012, shortly before Chick-fil-A's Chief of Operations, Dan Cathy, openly opposed gay marriage (via GLAAD).
In 2021, the brand came under fire after an Asian American woman's name was listed as "China" on her order (per Business Insider). When she emailed the Houston, Texas location she frequented often, management tried to sweep it under the rug by claiming a misunderstanding and offering a free meal.
Was it intentional or a misunderstanding?
Chick-fil-A is in hot water again after a recent Twitter volley (via Today). On September 9, 2022, Twitter user @kanyeismydad tweeted at Chick-fil-A, "grilled spicy deluxe but still noooo spicy nuggets.........@ChickfilA." (That's the national corporation, not a single franchise location as in the case of the Chick-fil-A that tried to pay employees in food.) They responded, "Your community will be the first to know if spicy items are added to the permanent menu."
The reply immediately spawned outrage as users wasted no time calling out the company's use of "your community," assuming it meant the black community. The response alone garnered more than 1,600 comments, including "Your community? I'm gonna need explanation for that comment. 'Our' community wouldn't wanna think that there was some racial undertones behind that" per Today. However, this incident may not be as cut and dry. Some Twitter users pointed out that the menu varies regionally and that the use of community could refer to the physical location. User @FactsinatedbyTV pointed out that Chick-fil-A used the same phrase with a screenshot of an August tweet, including the statement, "They reply like this frequently."
Chick-fil-A told Today, "The response was a poor choice of words [...] not intended [...] to be insensitive or disrespectful. We often use the term 'community' [...] to talk about places where we operate restaurants and serve the surrounding community."