Angry Orchard Fires Staff Following Alleged Racial Profiling

Angry Orchard has apologized and let go of some staff members after a couple claimed they were racially profiled during their engagement.

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Marie Cleone posted on Facebook that she, friends and her boyfriend went to the Walden business last Sunday to celebrate her boyfriend's 40th birthday. She had no idea that her boyfriend was about to ask her to marry him.

Before the proposal, security accused the boyfriend of stealing a shirt, Cleone said. During the actual proposal, security came back and alleged Cleone had the shirt. Later, a large group of Angry Orchard staff forced the now engaged couple and their friends to empty their pockets and bags.

Angry Orchard has since apologized, said they removed the on-duty manager as well as the security staff working on Sunday and announced it will require remaining staff to undergo training about bias.

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"As soon as we learned about this incident, we launched an investigation into what happened and got in touch directly with the guest involved to express our sincerest apology and offer to make it right. We recognize that we badly mishandled this situation and our team’s response was inexcusable. As of yesterday, we have replaced the security team members working that day and the manager who was on duty. We are initiating additional, mandatory training on security awareness and unconscious bias for everyone on staff to prevent something like this from happening in the future. We’re deeply sorry that our guests were mistreated. This event does not reflect our company values of respect for all and creating a welcoming environment for our guests, and while we wish it didn’t occur at all, we are treating this moment as a valuable learning experience for our staff," a spokesperson for Angry Orchard said in a statement.