Popeyes CEO Cheryl Bachelder turned to Facebook yesterday to assure customers she would personally handle a controversial situation involving a manager who was allegedly fired for being robbed at gunpoint.
News reports indicated that the franchised store demanded the manager, Marissa Holcomb, compensate the owner for the $400 that was taken. When she refused, Holcomb, five months pregnant, was fired.
Outraged consumers blasted the dismissal on Popeyes’ Facebook page, calling for a boycott of the brand.
Bachelder said on her personal Facebook page last night that the franchisee had apologized to the woman and reinstated her with back pay. “I commit to you that we will monitor this to full resolution,” she told her 230 friends.
A copy of the apology from franchisee Z&H Foods was released around the same time. “As a franchisee of the Popeyes system, our organization strives to provide the best possible work experience for our employees,” said co-owner Amin Dhanani. “We clearly did not do that in this case and we have apologized to the employee personally.”
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