Black Chick-Fil-A Customer Says Worker Wrote His Name as "Monkey" on Receipt — Worker Claims Misunderstanding

A Black Chick-fil-A customer says that he was a target of racial discrimination after he received a receipt with what he believes was a derogatory remark.

Marquise B. Vanzego wrote in a Facebook post addressed to the chain's HQ office in Atlanta, Ga., that the incident occurred in LaPlata, Md.

Marquise detailed what occurred during his visit to the restaurant at the top of his Facebook post: "I would like to take this time to express my outrage and disgust over an appalling incident I experienced at the Chick-fil-A in LaPlata, Maryland. On this past Friday, August 23, 2024, at approximately 8:00 p.m., I placed an order through the drive-through, speaking directly to a young white male."

After telling the employee his name, Marquise, he was later shocked to find a receipt with the name the employee chose for him to append to the order. Instead of "Marquis" the employee wrote: "Monkeys."

Marquise wrote: "When I reached the pickup window and received my food and drink, I was shocked to see that the label on my order read 'Monkeys' instead of my name, 'Marquise,' which I had clearly communicated to the drive-through team member."

The Chick-fil-A customer said that the "manager on duty" agreed that there's no way Marquise could've ever been misconstrued as "Monkeys" and offered a "refund for what she called an inconvenience."

Marquise speculated, however, that the manager reached into his vehicle to take the receipt so as to remove any evidence of the "racial name given to" him.

He added that the insult was "humiliating as a 52-year-old African American adult male." Marquise went on to state: "The sheer hurt of seeing that word takes me back to a painful history, one where my ancestors endured the same dehumanizing racism that was meant to strip away their dignity. The fact that such a vile slur was used so casually in this day and age is a stark reminder that the trauma of those times is still very much alive."

Marquise penned what makes the incident all the more upsetting is that he he's been "a loyal customer patronizing this establishment several times a week."

He said that he spoke with the general manager of the store, who had yet to reach out to him to discuss the name on his receipt any further.

Marquise did write that he spoke with an owner of the store over the phone who told Marquise he wouldn't be firing the 17-year-old employee because the employee thought that the name Marquise was giving him over the loudspeaker was Monkeys.

The customer replied that he couldn't believe the employee genuinely thought that any person could be named "Monkeys," and asked the owner if he'd "ever heard of a human being name 'Monkey,'" to which the owner said no.

"I then asked 'If it was a black male working the drive-through and a white man name 'Harold' placed an order and the black team member put his name as 'Honkey' or if it was a white woman name 'Peggy' and the black team member put her name as 'Pig,' would your actions to not discipline the team member be the same?'" Marquis said the owner "chose not to answer and ended the call."

In his Facebook post, Marquise includes a picture of the receipt in question, along with a pair of videos where he speaks to a manager at the establishment, a Black woman, about the incident. "There is no excuse," she tells him when he asks what the employee's excuse was.

"What was the name that you gave him?" she asks in the clip.

"I told him Marquise, that's not even close to to Marquise," he responds.

"No sir, it's not," she can be heard saying to the customer.

In another video, he can be seen heading inside of the restaurant and asking the general manager for the contact information of someone he can discuss the incident with.

Marquise's post ended up going viral on X after DC-based chef Anthony Thomas posted about the incident. "Chick-fil-A count ya MF days," he wrote, followed by a sad face and broken heart emoji.

Several folks who responded to the video stated, however, they they thought Marquise could be misconstrued as Monkeys, especially when it's said over the loudspeaker.

"I mean, Monkeys and Marquise does sound similar depending on pronunciation lol," one user penned.

Another person wrote: "I mean, if I understand correctly the person taking the order heard 'Monkeys' and not 'Marquise'? But how does one know that was intentional?"

"My name is Shane and they called me Wayne this morning. Do I have a lawsuit?" another X user responded.

There were others who urged Marquise to sue Chick-fil-A for the incident: "Ohhh it's the American way to sueee babe," one said.

Another user highlighted how, in Marquise's video, there were several Black employees working in the Chick-fil-A location. "Literally 80 percent of the employees at that store are Black," they said.