NYC Cafe Owner Fires Employee for Racist ‘Ching Chong’ Receipt

August 17, 2017

The owner of the restaurant that issued an Asian-American customer a racist receipt has posted an apology on their Facebook page, identifying the employee responsible and terminating their employment with the company.

The post reads:

“Hi I am Rocco I run Cornerstone Cafe I need to apologize to everyone about the situation that happened at Cornerstone Cafe. I asked many Questions to come up with bottom of the situation. I came up with the conclusion that this is not acceptable.

“Anyone who knows us or what we are about, knows that we are not racist and that we care about people and their feelings . I do not have any words. Todays situation left me speechless.

“Let me clarify that it wasn’t Ruby it was another girl who wrote the order to go, under Ruby’s number. When I asked why? I got the answer the ticket was opened on the pos system so she just punched it in. That is no excuse .

“This situation leaves me no choice than to terminate this employee for this unjustified act.

“It definitely does not reflect the way the Cornerstone staff or I think because of one individuals stupidity.

“As manager I still take full responsibility and I humbly asks for forgiveness to all who got offended , but most of all to the person who’s heart was broke and made sad today. This deeply grieves me. Anyone who knows me and the staff knows that our main role everyday is to see people enjoy themselves and to leave Cornerstone happy. And that we are not racist to anyone. I really love everybody.

“This act is not acceptable and I thank you for bringing it to my attention. This behavior will not be tolerated .

“Again please accept my apology from my heart and from the rest of the employed staff at Cornerstone Cafe..”

Ziggy Chau, a friend of the victim and the person to post the offensive receipt on her FaceBook page, has since updated her original post to reflect the owner’s apology.

“***UPDATE***11:30PM
Rocco, the manager of the restaurant issued an apology:
https://www.facebook.com/cornerstonecafeeastvillage/posts/1423197341109495

Everyone, let’s be civilized now. There are many people that are employed by the restaurant whose livelihoods depend on their jobs there and should not suffer because ONE IGNORANT employee thought it was ok to make a racist remark.

Bottom line: SPEAK UP, IT MATTERS!! #BlackLivesMatter“

She also posted an update as to why she chose to use the hashtag “Black Lives Matter” in response to some queries from perplexed commenters:

“***UPDATE*** 11PM
Nextshark just shared this story:
https://data.nextshark.com/ziggy-chau-nyc-cafe-gives-names-asia…/

Speak up, it MATTERS!!

I also want to acknowledge, since this was just asked by an activist, why I put #BlackLivesMatter in my message. I’m not asking for sympathy for this incident, but to simply make a point to SPEAK UP!! At this point in time in the USA, this is about speaking up for EVERYONE, not when it affects you directly. RACISM is RACISM. RIGHT IS RIGHT, WRONG IS WRONG!! This is not time for “your fight” or “my fight”. Let me be more direct… this is not time for “this is a black fight” or “this is an Asian fight”. How hard is that to understand? Power in numbers. Asians especially need to UNITE TOGETHER and not TURN A BLIND EYE or simply say oh this is not relevant to our own fight!! I know Asians as a community have many of our own race issues to contend with… within our own communities, the specific Asian racisms we endure and how we Asians are perceived to by non-Asians and the MEDIA. (You know what I’m talking about!!) But, we need to unite and fight with our brothers and sisters because at the end of the day, we are really in this together.

#BlackLivesMatter”

The restaurant has received hundreds of negative reviews on Yelp, FaceBook, and other review sites since the incident occurred; most, if not all, are in reference to the receipt and the owner’s initial response to Rocco’s handling of the situation.

The incident has been handled similarly in the past; in 2011, the employee who handed two Asian customers receipts labeled “Ching” and “Chong” was dismissed immediately. In 2012, the employee that drew “Chink” eyes on Korean customer cups was terminated. Also in 2012, the Papa John’s employee who wrote “lady chinky eyes” on a customer’s receipt was also fired for the incident.

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