Smoothie King Announces Employees Who Refused to Serve Trump Supporters Have Been Fired

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Smoothie King has announced that the employees seen in a viral video refusing service to Trump supporters have been fired.

In the video, a woman — identified in a New York Post report as Erika Lindemeyer — was at a Smoothie King in Michigan on Monday with her husband Jake.

At the start of the video, she tells viewers the couple had been refused service because her husband was wearing a hoodie showing his support for President Donald Trump.

One of the employees shown in the video asks the couple to leave. According to Erika Lindemeyer, the employee claimed she “didn’t feel comfortable” serving them because of her husband’s hoodie.

“That is discrimination!” she said. “That is illegal!”

A second employee then claimed that “Trump discriminates us,” prompting Linemeyer to respond that it “has nothing to do with us.”

The heated back-and-forth ended with the couple walking out of the Smoothie King, with Erika Linemeyer claiming she was going to “call the police.”

Late Monday night, Smoothie King released a statement announcing the two employees had been fired. The statement read:

As a brand, Smoothie King is committed to ensuring our stores are a place free of discrimination of any kind, where every guest and team member is treated with care and respect.

Following an investigation into an incident involving a guest who was refused service at a franchised location in Michigan yesterday, the franchise owner has taken immediate action and the two employees involved are no longer with the business. Both the franchise owner and Smoothie King corporate have reached out to the guest several times to apologize and will continue to follow up. The local owner is also taking further action and enforcing mandatory retraining for all employees that outlines our guest experience standards.

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