No one should ever feel discriminated against while purchasing food in a restaurant, but that’s exactly what happened to one homeless Boston, Massachusetts man back in 2015. While visiting a Burger King one morning, Emory Ellis went to pay for his meal and ended up in the back of a police car and a three-month stay in jail instead. Why? Well, it turns out he was “wrongfully accused of using counterfeit cash.” Since the incident, Ellis has decided to sue the “fast food giant and franchisee for nearly $1 million, claiming he was discriminated against because of his appearance.”
No one should ever feel discriminated against while purchasing food in a restaurant, but that’s exactly what happened to one homeless Boston, Massachusetts man back in 2015. While visiting a Burger King one morning, Emory Ellis went to pay for his meal and ended up in the back of a police car and a three-month stay in jail instead. Why? Well, it turns out he was “wrongfully accused of using counterfeit cash.” Since the incident, Ellis has decided to sue the “fast food giant and franchisee for nearly $1 million, claiming he was discriminated against because of his appearance.”
But what happened, exactly? How did Ellis go from trying to pay for his meal to ending up in a cop car? According to the lawsuit, Ellis visited a Burger King on a morning in November 2015 for some food, and when he went to pay, the cashier suspected he was using counterfeit money and phoned the police. Once the police arrived, he was arrested and “charged with forgery of a bank note.” Unfortunately for Ellis, the arrest also “triggered a probation violation and he was held without bail until his final probation violation hearing,” according to the lawsuit
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Ellis spent three months in jail until “prosecutors dropped the forgery charge after the Secret Service concluded Ellis’ bill was real.” He was released in February 2016.
When discussing what Ellis went through, his attorney, Justin Drechsler said, “the cashier likely wouldn’t have questioned if the money was real if a white man in a suit handed him the same bill. Even if he did, the cashier probably would have apologized and said he couldn’t accept the cash instead of calling police.” Drechsler, who is white, added, “a person like me would’ve gotten an apology, but a person like Emory somehow finds his way in handcuffs for trying to pay for his breakfast with real money… Nobody deserves to be treated the way that Emory was treated.”
In response to the lawsuit, a spokesperson for Burger King Corp. issued a statement saying the “company does not tolerate discrimination of any kind,” but declined to “comment on the specifics of the case.” However, the company noted that the “franchise is responsible for employee training and handling legal matters about the location.”
The franchise, Two Guys Foods, Inc., has yet to respond to requests for comment. In addition, the cashier mentioned in the lawsuit has also been silent on the matter.
Sources:
Suit: Homeless man jailed after trying to eat at Burger King
A Black Homeless Man Is Suing Burger King for Racial Discrimination
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