GREEN VALLEY RANCH, Colo. -- It wasn't the Papa John's pizza itself that Dionne Duncan had a problem with. It was the label on the box.
"I noticed there was a name on there that was very, very inappropriate," said Duncan.
The name on the box was the "n" word. The Papa John's employee who took the order Tuesday night at the Green Valley Ranch store claims he was friends with Duncan's 17-year-old son, who placed the order, and said he put the racial slur on the label as a joke. But not everyone's laughing.
"Disappointed. Disgusted. That's uncalled for," Duncan said. "It's not my son's name."
Papa John's issued this statement to Denver7:
"This action is inexcusable and doesn't reflect our company values. After an internal investigation, we identified the cause of the issue and the employee is no longer a member of the Papa John's team. We sincerely apologize for the insensitive behavior of this individual. We have spoken with the customer and apologized for this incident. The former-employee that created this offensive label was African-American and claims that he knew the person ordering the pizza from high-school. We unequivocally do not condone this behavior and have terminated his employment." - Peter Collins, senior director of public relations, Papa John's.
"That was the first step," Duncan said.
She suggests further action, more training and perhaps a broader internal investigation. Duncan suggests there should be some accountability with the store manager as well.
"It's never acceptable. It's not a game," she said. "It's not a joke when it comes to your workplace, or anywhere."
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