Published 17:19 IST, September 10th 2019
Deaf woman refused to be served food at Jack in the Box, Canbell
ReVae Arnaud-Jensen, a deaf woman was refused service at Jack in the Box as she wasn't able to communicate via the speaker; the employee has since been fired
ReVae Arnaud-Jensen, a deaf woman, was refused service at Jack in the Box.
An employee at Jack in the Box refused to serve the deaf woman as she wasn't able to place her order over the speaker. When she proceeded to the next window the employee got angry and refused to serve her and asked her to leave, even after waiting for two hours she never received her order. Jensen is deaf and was born that way.
Legal action against Jack Box
The video of the incident went viral on September 09. The 39-year-old will be pursuing legal action against the fast-food company even though the management has already fired the worker after they saw the video posted by Jensen on her Facebook page. Jack in the Box on West Hamilton Avenue generally takes order through a speaker first then proceeding it to the delivery window.
Unfortunately, it didn't work for Jensen. She couldn't hear and she got that across the worker at Jack in the Box. She is seen telling the employee that “I can't hear. I am deaf” to which the worker replied “It's ok. Go to speaker now”.
Jensen's son recorded the confrontation. The employee is also seen mocking her sign language and laughing at her. Reportedly, Jensen demanded that Jack in the Box train their employees, including the CEO to understand the deaf culture. She also claims that she goes through this kind of discrimination almost every day and it has to stop. By pursuing legal action she is not only standing up for her but for the deaf community as a whole.
Reportedly, Jack in the Box has also released a statement claiming that the mistreatment towards any guest will not be tolerated. They expect the employees to follow the training procedures and be respectful and courteous to all the customers. They also investigated the incident and contacted the local franchise owner. They have terminated the employee in the video.
Discrimination against disabled
Discrimination is a fact of life for many people. When it comes to deaf and hard of hearing people they also encounter employment discrimination as well. They face discrimination either openly or subtly. This usually happens because of the ignorance towards deafness. A hotel chain reportedly rejected a job application of a teenager who was told at the interview that she wasn't qualified for the position because of her hearing loss. There was reportedly a lawsuit as well that was filed against a staffing company that would not accept the job application or interviews the deaf applicants.
Updated 23:32 IST, September 10th 2019