A Dairy Queen owner's alleged racial slur to a customer has led to his Illinois store closing and his franchise rights being terminated.
Deianeira Ford, 21, charged that James Crichton, owner of the Dairy Queen restaurant in Zion, yelled the n-word at her when she demanded her money back for an incomplete order, said the Washington Post.
The Lake County News-Sun reported that Crichton confirmed to Zion Police that he used the term against the woman, telling officers for its report that he "would be happy go to jail over the issue."
Later he denied that in an interview with the News-Sun.
"It's 99 percent lies," Crichton told the News-Sun. "This is blown so far out of proportion it's stupid. Her order was confusing, and I told her, 'Here's your money back.' This is so far blown out of proportion."
According to the News-Sun, police interviewed Ford who told them about the incident that happened at the drive-through where she complained about her order and was confronted by Crichton. Police said they went to interview the store owner afterwards.
"(He) boastfully told me he would be happy to go to jail over the issue and proudly admitted to calling Ford a slur. He added that he is 'fed up with black people,'" according to the officer's report, per the News-Sun.
Police Chief Stephen Dumyahn told the newspaper Thursday that he was bothered reading the police officer's case report.
"I'm disgusted and discouraged by the comments made by this business owner. I reached out to Miss Ford to tell her that this does not represent the diverse community of Zion," Dumyahn told the News-Sun.
Dumyahn later told the Washington Post that "while this alleged activity is deplorable, it is not criminal."
The Post said Ford went to Facebook to share her story and it was retweeted more than 1,000 times and caught the attention of Dairy Queen's corporate office.
Dairy Queen released a statement Thursday calling Crichton's actions "inexcusable, reprehensible, and unacceptable" and then promised sensitivity training for the store's employees, said the Post. By Friday, the chain announced it was closing the Zion location and dissolving Crichton’s franchise rights.
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