Florida Deaf man refused service at KFC; 3 police officers show up

A Deaf man from Florida, Justin Boozer Carter, filmed himself at a KFC drive-thru after he said staff refused to serve him and told him to come inside. Eventually three police officers showed up and told him to leave.

Boozer Carter: Now police is here. Police is here. Another officer is here.

[Shows a written note that reads, “The problem is that we need you to come inside to help you with your order please.”]

See this? So I have to go inside? Oh please. I’ve never had a problem with the drive-thru in the past. I’ve come here many times. Until now.

[Shows another written note that reads, “They are asking that you be removed from the property.”]

See this? Police said.. They wrote that they want me to be removed from the property.

[Camera shows three officers]

Three cops and her. [Camera shows female staffer at drive-thru] That.

Alex: Boozer Carter told The Daily Moth that this situation started when he went to the drive-thru menu area, where the speaker post was. He said there were no cars behind him and that he was looking at the menu and trying to call his girlfriend to ask her what she wanted. After a few minutes, a staffer walked up to him.

Boozer Carter: What happened was the manager came from outside and told me that I had to come inside because it was policy. No, oh please…I went up to the window and was about to write down my order. I had this feeling something was going to happen. So, just in case, I set up the video.

Alex: Boozer Carter said when police officers showed up, they told him that the KFC manager said it was store policy for deaf customers to come in. But he said he knew this was not true, but left because he didn’t want the situation to escalate.

Boozer Carter: At the end, the KFC manager told them to remove my order. Of course, I had to cooperate because I didn’t want to get shot or I’d even get arrested if I didn’t cooperate. Anything could happen. So I’d rather leave and that’s what I did. I left the place.

Alex: On Tuesday, a representative for KFC emailed Boozer Carter to apologize and offered him a $50 KFC gift card. The representative said the “Area Coach” is meeting with the KFC team to re-educate them on proper processes and protocols.

Boozer Carter said he didn’t feel satisfied.

Boozer Carter: When I think about out it, I mean please, I believe that woman should get fired honestly. They had absolutely no patience with me. They tried to shun me and said it was policy. I knew there couldn’t actually be a policy like this one. If Deaf person had to go inside, does that mean they would say the same to hearing people? Please I don’t think so.

Alex: So, this is yet another instance of a Deaf customer having the police called on them for refusing to leave the drive-thru after being told to come inside.

Boozer Carter: I never thought it would happen to me. I’ve said this many times, but I never had any problems with this. Until now, it really happened to me! Just, wow, you know?

Alex: The Daily Moth reported about two similar incidents in the past several months — one at a Taco Bell and another at a Dunkin’ Donuts.

Fortunately, none of the interactions with police officers resulted in arrests or harm towards Deaf customers, but one has to wonder what could happen if there was a miscommunication or a misunderstanding.

FB Post by Justin Boozer Carter: https://www.facebook.com/redbOiix3/posts/10156867134601357

KFC in Largo, Florida: http://bit.ly/2JoRiut