Fact check: Five Guys employees terminated, suspended, after refusing service to police

“FIRED FIVE GUYS BURGER EMPLOYEES SAID, “WE DON’T SERVE COPS”! YOU KNOW 
WHAT FIVE GUYS GOT TO DO. LOUDLY BE PRO-AMERICAN & POLICE,” the July 15 
Facebook post reads.

Another user on July 8 wrote, "Wow! Another company wants. to bankrupt 
themselves. FIVE GUYS BURGERS refuses service to POLICE!" 

One user shared a screenshot of a local news story about the alleged 
incident, captioning the post, “I’m done with Five Guys! Every one of 
those employees should be sent walking.”

The claim comes amid rising tension between law enforcement and service 
workers following nationwide protests against systematic racism and police 
brutality spurred by the death of George Floyd.

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Five Guys employees terminated, suspended 
On July 7, a group of Five Guys employees were, in fact, fired or 
suspended for allegedly refusing to serve Alabama police officers, USA 
TODAY reported.

Three officers of the Daphne Police Department arrived at a Five Guys 
location inside of a shopping center. The officers returned to their 
vehicles to grab face masks to comply with the restaurant’s mask 
requirement, FOX 10 reported. After returning, the police officers allege 
the employees refused to serve them.

The officers claim they overheard an employee saying, "I'm not serving 
them," and the officers then left and went to another restaurant.

A Five Guys corporate spokesperson told Fox 10 that the company is still 
actively investigating the situation. 

Other local news outlets also reported on the situation, including NBC 15, 
WKRG and WHNT 19.

NBC 15 reported that people gathered outside of the Five Guys restaurant 
in Daphne to show support for police after social media rumors. 

Five Guys, police department respond 
On July 8, the Daphne Police Department posted on Facebook to clarify 
misinformation that was being spread on social media.

The Daphne Police Department said it appreciated the "outpouring of 
support" from the community and thanked "Five Guys on a corporate and 
local level," adding that the department does not think the actions of a 
few employees represents the restaurant as a whole. 

Five Guys took to Facebook on July 10 to address the situation following 
news reports and social media posts, confirming that the involved 
employees were terminated or suspended.

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"Five Guys and the Daphne, AL franchise want to thank the Daphne Police 
Department for their support in working together toward a resolution. The 
actions of the Daphne, AL franchise have taken include termination and 
suspension of the employees involved," the restaurant wrote. "The store 
has temporarily closed for further education and customer service training 
with a representative from the Daphne Police Department and will reopen at 
4PM today, July 10th." 

The statement added that the actions of the employees at the Daphne 
location do not represent Five Guys. 

Daphne Mayor Dane Haygood also posted to Facebook on July 10 that "a 
seemingly appropriate response has been issued by the local business 
involved in the incident on Tuesday evening in which Daphne Police 
Department were disrespected and refused service by some employees of the 
establishment."

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In its post, the police department further clarified that all three 
officers were wearing masks the entire time they were inside of the 
establishment and that it is continuing to work with Five Guys toward a 
resolution "once all the facts are known." 

Five Guys has not yet responded to USA TODAY's request for an update 
regarding what transpired. 

Our ruling: True
It is true that Five Guys fired and suspended some of its employees at its 
Daphne, Alabama, location after they refused service to police officers, 
according to statements and media reports. However, as noted by Five Guys 
and the police department, the actions of the employees do not reflect the 
restaurant as a whole, despite posts that claim otherwise. We rate this 
claim as TRUE based on our research. 

Our fact-check sources:

USA TODAY, Five Guys says employees who refused to serve police have been 
fired, suspended

FOX 10, Daphne Police release statement on incident at Five Guys

NBC 15, Daphne Police, Five Guys issue statements on alleged incident 
involving employees

WKRG, Daphne PD, Five Guys respond to incident where employees refused to 
serve police

WHNT, Report: Daphne police officers refused service at Five Guys 
restaurant

Five Guys, Facebook post

Daphne Mayor Dane Haygood, Facebook post

Daphne Police Department, Facebook post

https://news.yahoo.com/fact-check-five-guys-employees-180410172.html