Two Smoothie King employees have been fired after refusing to serve a man wearing a President Donald Trump hoodie.
Erika Lindemyer and her husband, Jake, went to the smoothie franchise’s Ann Arbor, Michigan, location and were denied service by two employees who said they were uncomfortable because of the Trump hoodie, according to a video Erika posted online on Sunday.
In the video, Erika told one of the employees, “We were just wanting a smoothie, and you literally looked at us, and I asked you if everything was okay, you said we don’t feel comfortable serving you because of my husband’s hoodie. That is discrimination.”
“Okay, well, have a great day,” the employee said back. The other employee said, “Trump discriminates us.” Both employees appeared to be people of color.
“That has nothing to do with us wanting a smoothie,” Erika responded. Jake then said, “Good luck maintaining your employment.”
When Jake told one of the employees that discrimination is a crime, the employee said, “We have the right to refuse service.”
“Not due to political views, though,” Jake replied.
Erika’s video got 4.5 million views on Facebook in two days and was shared across social media.
Smoothie King responded to the incident Monday, writing in a statement shared to social media, “As a brand, Smoothie King is committed to ensuring our stores are a place free of discrimination of any kind, where every guest and team member is treated with care and respect.
“Following an investigation into an incident involving a guest who was refused service at a franchised location in Michigan yesterday, the franchise owner has taken immediate action and the two employees involved are no longer with the business.”
Smoothie King said corporate, along with the franchise owner of the Michigan location, has reached out to the customer to apologize.
“The local owner is also taking further action and enforcing mandatory retraining for all employees that outlines our guest experience standards,” Smoothie King wrote.
In a separate video posted on TikTok by a girl claiming to be an employee, she said her co-worker told the woman that her husband’s Trump merchandise was making them “uncomfortable.”
“I told them…I said, ‘We have the right to refuse service. Have a good day.’ They did not want to listen to that,” the girl said.
She also posted another video showing her view of the incident, in which she tells the couple, “We’re not serving Trump supporters.”
Erika celebrated the news of the two employees’ firings by commenting on Smoothie King’s statement with a muscle emoji, heart emoji, fire emoji and an American flag emoji.
