Owner of Frank’s in Opelousas Apologizes for Insensitive Description on Customer’s Receipt

The owner of Frank's in Opelousas is speaking out after a receipt from his restaurant went viral on Facebook.

The receipt was posted by a woman who says she dined in with family members over crawfish at the Opelousas restaurant. When she looked at the receipt, she was shocked to see her family described by race as the "black* family by window."

The woman posted the receipt to Facebook expressing her dissatisfaction that Frank's used their race as an identifier, in the computer system no less. Almost immediately, comments poured in as many were shocked and outraged at the restaurant's actions.

Others alleged to have had similar experiences at Frank's restaurants, while some didn't understand why there was a problem with the restaurant using the family's skin color to help them keep track of their order.

One person who did not find the behavior acceptable was Frank's owner, Michael Fontenot. In an apology posted to the official Frank's Facebook page, Fontenot personally apologized for what he described as "poor judgment" from an employee. Fontenot said the description was a violation of what is expected when it comes to the protocols set in place for identifying customers in their internal ordering system.

This isn't the first time that insensitive or inappropriate identifiers have gone viral for offending their recipients. From ethnic and non-ethnic identifiers to descriptions of hair, weight, and sexuality, there has been a wide range of cases where words, stereotypes, and, in some cases, slurs have landed businesses in hot water.

In one case where a hurtful description on a receipt was more direct, police in Austin purposely dined in at the restaurant after being called "pig" by a worker who was ultimately terminated for their actions. The officer said they decided to return to the restaurant to eat to show that the relationship between the business and the police was "bigger than that."

While I'm not sure if this family Fontenot says that "effective immediately" his employees will only use customer names in their system moving forward as he plans to "re-engage" staff members in proper training.