On August 31st, a California woman was mocked and denied service at the local fast-food restaurant after she passed the drive-through speaker and went to the service window to place her order.
What We Know:
- ReVae Arnaud-Jensen has been deaf her entire life but is able to read lips. As she tried to explain her condition and attempted to give her order, the employee working the drive-thru window reprimanded her.
- Arnaud-Jensen’s son began recording the interaction between his mother and the employee because he wanted people to see what people with disabilities go through daily.
- In the video shared on her Facebook page, you can see Arnaud-Jensen saying she can’t hear and how the employee was discriminating her. The same video shows the employee telling Arnaud-Jensen to shut up and advising that he didn’t care.
- At the end of the video, Arnaud-Jensen becomes emotional as she tries to order her food. That is when the Jack In The Box employee decided to mock her, laugh, and close the drive-thru window.
- Arnaud-Jensen’s son said his mother refused to leave and waited two hours until she was served. In an interview with NBC News, he said, “It was my first time seeing an employee acting like that, and honestly I was very shocked. I felt pretty mad too, because deaf people very often get treated differently.”
- After management at Jack In The Box viewed the video posted on Arnaud-Jensen’s Facebook page, they decided to fire the employee involved in the attack.
- According to Yahoo Lifestyle, Jack In The Box issued a statement after the incident. “We have been informed of the incident that took place between an employee and hearing-impaired guest, in the drive-thru at a Campbell, CA restaurant on August 31st. We do not tolerate the mistreatment of any customers and expect employees to follow all training procedures, be respectful, courteous and accommodating to all guests. After a thorough investigation of the incident and direct contact with the local franchise owner, we understand the employee in the video has been terminated.”
Arnaud-Jensen said in an interview with NBC Bay Area that she intends to sue. She also adds, “It’s not only training … You need that depth of knowledge of deaf culture to fully understand the needs.”
