A New York city restaurant has sacked one of its staff, after the individual wrote "Ching Chong" as the name of an Asian customer on a receipt.
Facebook user Ziggy Chau first posted the incriminating photo online last Wednesday (Aug 16), showing a crumpled receipt from Cornerstone Cafe, with the words "Customer Name: Ching Chong" printed on it.
In the caption, she said it happened to a friend's mother, and asked people to boycott the eatery until they publicly apologise.
"Better yet, call them directly and let them know they have a racist staff."
She then went on to say that racism has no place anywhere, and implored her Asian friends to speak up, ending her post with the hashtage #BlackLivesMatter.
In a later update, she explained that her friend did not want to escalate the incident, so she called the restaurant herself to complain to the manager.
"I explained the situation to the manager by the name of Rocco who then proceeded to ask me so what is the customer's name then? I said regardless, the receipt said Ching Chong, a derogatory term for Asians. He made an excuse and said maybe the server misheard the name."
Ms Chau said that while she did not want innocent people to lose their jobs, it was not alright "to mock and be bias to people that are different".
She added that she was not being petty or overly sensitive, but was just speaking up when it mattered.
In a Thursday (Aug 17) post on the restaurant's Facebook page which currently does not exist anymore, the manager, Rocco, issued an apology, saying he had tried getting to the bottom of the situation and that it was unacceptable.
"Todays situation left me speechless... This situation leaves me no choice than to terminate this employee for this unjustified act," he wrote.
He said that that "one individual's stupidity" is not reflective of Cornerstone Cafe's staff, and that he took "full responsibility" as manager.
Rocco ended the apology saying: "This act is not acceptable and I thank you for bringing it to my attention. This behaviour will not be tolerated."
