Chipotle is launching an investigation after NFL player Darius Leonard said he was racially profiled and made to leave one of its restaurants by the manager, according to Yahoo News.
Darius, who is a linebacker for the Indianapolis Colts, shared the encounter in an Instagram video, saying that it occurred while he was eating with his family at a South Carolina Chipotle. When they were almost done eating, Darius said a manager came up to his table with a "terrible attitude" and asked if they "had a problem."
"We're all lost, trying to figure out what's going on," Darius said. "He was saying that a white guy said we was verbally abusing him, talking trash to him, and it was basically a lie. And we basically got kicked out of Chipotle because of that."
The athlete went on to say that the manager told him he wanted to call the police on them, which Darius said is an example of what "being Black in America is right now."
"Us not even doing anything wrong, going out to eat with your family, trying to spend a little bit of quality time and you can't even enjoy eating anymore," he said.
"That’s the white privilege that we are talking about," he continued. "There’s no Black guy that can sit there and eat peacefully without being racially profiled. We know that if that manager would have called the cops right then and there, we know what would have went down.”
Chipotle issued a statement to Delish from Chipotle Chairman and CEO Brian Niccol, saying that he has spoken to Darius and that they have suspended the manager in question as they conduct an investigation.
“We are currently investigating the incident involving Darius Leonard in Florence, South Carolina," he said in the statement: "We have a zero tolerance policy for discrimination of any kind and we have suspended our manager while we conduct a thorough investigation. I’ve personally talked with Darius and I’m committed to ensuring the appropriate action is taken once the investigation concludes.”
