02-21-2010, 05:51 PM
A St. Louis man will take action after finding what he calls a racist remark on his receipt from Pizza Hut.
"At first I thought maybe this was some type of promotional," said Karl Mayberry. "This had to be the name of a pizza that I didn't know."
But it wasn't. The words Mayberry saw on his Pizza Hut order ticket did not describe the pizza at all. He believes they described him. Where his name should have been, there were two adjectives instead.
"It was 'big' and 'black,'" he said.
Mayberry could not believe it. The pizza had come from the store on Lindell. He compared receipts with another Pizza Hut just to be sure.
"Lo and behold, the same spot where the name would go is where the racist remark went from the Pizza Hut on Lindell," he said.
Mayberry was hurt and offended. After receiving his complaints, Pizza Hut officials responded. They gave Mayberry two $50 gift cards and a letter of apology. In it, they said they were both disappointed and embarrassed by the situation.
A company spokesman told NewsChannel 5 that Pizza Hut policy dictates they use only name, address or phone number to identify people.
"We have taken corrective action, including an employee training at this restaurant, to make sure our policies are adhered to," said Chris Fuller, Pizza Hut spokesman.
Mayberry believes it's too little, too late. What's more, he said this happened on Martin Luther King Day.
"To be an African-American male and have that type of injustice done to you, especially by a Caucasian, on Martin Luther King holiday, it just threw me so hard," Mayberry said.
After what happened, Mayberry feels the apology he received isn't enough, so now he's planning on taking legal action.
"It's good that they did manage to step up and do something, but still they have not addressed Karl Mayberry's problem," he said. "First you've got to deal with Karl then you deal with everyone else."
Mayberry said he was the only customer in the restaurant that day and the employee could have easily asked his name. Since the incident, Mayberry gave the gift cards to a local homeless shelter. He said he's lost his taste for Pizza Hut's pizza.
"At first I thought maybe this was some type of promotional," said Karl Mayberry. "This had to be the name of a pizza that I didn't know."
But it wasn't. The words Mayberry saw on his Pizza Hut order ticket did not describe the pizza at all. He believes they described him. Where his name should have been, there were two adjectives instead.
"It was 'big' and 'black,'" he said.
Mayberry could not believe it. The pizza had come from the store on Lindell. He compared receipts with another Pizza Hut just to be sure.
"Lo and behold, the same spot where the name would go is where the racist remark went from the Pizza Hut on Lindell," he said.
Mayberry was hurt and offended. After receiving his complaints, Pizza Hut officials responded. They gave Mayberry two $50 gift cards and a letter of apology. In it, they said they were both disappointed and embarrassed by the situation.
A company spokesman told NewsChannel 5 that Pizza Hut policy dictates they use only name, address or phone number to identify people.
"We have taken corrective action, including an employee training at this restaurant, to make sure our policies are adhered to," said Chris Fuller, Pizza Hut spokesman.
Mayberry believes it's too little, too late. What's more, he said this happened on Martin Luther King Day.
"To be an African-American male and have that type of injustice done to you, especially by a Caucasian, on Martin Luther King holiday, it just threw me so hard," Mayberry said.
After what happened, Mayberry feels the apology he received isn't enough, so now he's planning on taking legal action.
"It's good that they did manage to step up and do something, but still they have not addressed Karl Mayberry's problem," he said. "First you've got to deal with Karl then you deal with everyone else."
Mayberry said he was the only customer in the restaurant that day and the employee could have easily asked his name. Since the incident, Mayberry gave the gift cards to a local homeless shelter. He said he's lost his taste for Pizza Hut's pizza.