Hide Transcript Show Transcript WEBVTT STORM AND ONCE THE SHOPPING CENTER OFFICIALS AND DUNKIN CORPORATE HEARD ABOUT, THE SIGN CAME DOWN. A PICTURE OF THIS SIGN INSIDE THE DUNKIN DONUTS STORE AT 1020 WEST 41ST STREET READS IN PART, IF YOU HEAR ANY OF OUR STAFF SHOUTING IN A LANGUAGE OTHER THAN ENGLISH TO CALL MANAGEMENT WITH THE NAME OF THE EMPLOYEE AND IN RETURN GET A COUPON FOR A FREE PRODUCT. REGULARS TO THE STORE SEEMED APPALLED >> THE STAFF SHOULD BE ABLE TO SPEAK WHATEVER LYNWOOD’S THEY ARE SPEAKING. >> THEIR KIND AND COURTEOUS AND THEY DO THEIR JOB AND THEY ARE PAID TO WORK IN DUNKIN’ DONUTS AND SERVE PEOPLE AND THEY HAVE ONLY BEEN COURTEOUS TO ME. IF IF THEY WERE NOT THAT IS NO REASON TO TELL THEM THEY CANNOT SPEAK IN ANY LANGUAGE THEY WANT. >> THAT IS HORRIBLE. IT IS EXPECTED IN THIS CLIMATE, HORRIBLE THINGS LIKE THAT. LISA: THE SIGN HAS GONE VIRAL ON SOCIAL MEDIA ATTRACTING NATIONAL ATTENTION. COMMENTS ON THE WBAL TV FACEBOOK PAGE INCLUDE COULDN’T AGREE MORE IF I OWNED A BUSINESS THE RULE WOULD BE SPEAK WHATEVER LANGUAGE YOU WANT WHEN YOU ARE NOT WORKING BUT WHEN YOU ARE WORKING , YOU WILL ONLY SPEAK ENGLISH. DUNCAN DONUTS SENT THIS STATEMENT THROUGH ALLIANCE MARKETING. LISA: I SPOKE WITH THE GENERAL MANAGER OF A DIFFERENT DUNKIN DONUTS, A MR. PATEL, WHO TOLD ME THAT HE HAD A SIMILAR SIGN IN HIS STORE YEARS AGO TO PLEASE HIS CUTO Advertisement Some question sign posted at Baltimore Dunkin Donuts store Sign asks customers to report employees who shout in languages other than English Share Shares Copy Link Copy A sign seen posted at a Dunkin Donuts in Baltimore asks customers to report employees shouting in languages other than English.The general manager posted the sign that was seen Monday morning by customers, including a WBAL-TV 11 News producer, at the Dunkin Donuts on 41st Street. The sign read: "If you hear any of our staff shouting in a language other than English, please call 443-415-7775 immediately with the name of the employee to receive a coupon for free coffee and a pastry." The 11 News I-Team called the phone number, and a man who answered said it was an old sign and that he is no longer the general manager at that particular store. However, he did admit to putting up a similar sign in the past, saying customers had complained about it in the past.The sign caused a tweetstorm, and once shopping center officials and Dunkin Donuts corporate heard about it, the sign came down. "The more I think about this the weirder it is. Why would the general manager be OK with employees yelling in English? Why would he be fine with them yelling at all? This is weird. We’re going to find out this is something weird," @alexoliveira writes. "@dunkindonuts Please do something about this and this store's general manager. THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE," @whitelily22 writes.Regulars to the store seemed appalled. "I think the staff should be able to speak whatever language they are speaking," said Leah Gold, a customer. "They're kind and courteous and do their job," said Reagan Greenberg, a customer. "Even if they weren't courteous, that's no reason not to speak in their native language or any language they want to. ""It's horrible. It's the kind of thing you can expect in this climate, horrible things like that," said Wesley, a customer.Dunkin Donuts sent 11 News a statement through Alliance Marketing, saying: "Dunkin' Donuts and our franchisees share the goal of creating a welcoming and hospitable environment for all guests. The franchise owner has informed us that the sign was posted by their general manager based on her own personal judgment to ensure those standards are being met. While her intent was to address a customer service and satisfaction issue, the franchisee determined her approach was inappropriate and confirmed the sign has been removed. "Another franchise owner told 11 News that he had a similar sign in his store years ago to please his customers.Also on WBALTV.com:<doc-sep>A Dunkin’ Donuts store in Baltimore was forced to take down a sign offering a reward to customers who report employees shouting in any language that is not English, following backlash over a photo of the sign posted online on Tuesday. The photo showed a small red sign sitting in front of a register asking customers to report any employees they witnessed shouting in a language other than English to management. “If you hear any of our staff SHOUTING in a language other than ENGLISH Please call 443-415-7775 immediately with the name of the employee to receive a coupon for FREE Coffee and a pastry,” the message read. This sign is being displayed at a @dunkindonuts in Baltimore. General manager posted a sign asking customers to report employees not speaking English. Even offering a reward. #shocking pic.twitter.com/1kUr0lcYuY — Gillian Morley (@GillianMorley_) June 18, 2018 ADVERTISEMENT A spokesperson for Dunkin’ Donuts said in a statement to a local CBS affiliate that the sign had been set up by the franchise’s general manager “based on her own personal judgment to ensure … the goal of creating a welcoming and hospitable environment for all guests.” "While her intent was to address a customer service and satisfaction issue, the franchisee determined her approach was inappropriate,” the statement said. The sign has since been removed, according to CBS.<doc-sep>In a statement, Dunkin’ Donuts said the general manager of the West 41st Street store posted the sign “based on her own personal judgment” to address a “customer service and satisfaction issue.” The franchise owner determined the sign to be “inappropriate,” according to the statement, and had the sign removed. Neither the general manager nor the franchise owner was identified.<doc-sep>Twitter users are fuming over a sign at a Baltimore Dunkin’ Donuts encouraging customers to report employees speaking a foreign language. The sign, which was spotted Monday morning by a producer for local news station WBAL, asked patrons who overheard “staff shouting in a language other than English” to call a number and provide the name of the employee in exchange for a coupon redeemable for a free coffee and pastry. The sign attributed the request to the store’s general manager. Some question sign posted at Baltimore Dunkin Donuts store https://t.co/jE3oE9ILZ3 pic.twitter.com/v4Oj0OkoNz — WBAL Baltimore News (@wbaltv11) June 18, 2018 A call to the number on the sign went unanswered; a staff member at the Baltimore location who answered the phone simply said that the sign had been taken down. In a statement, a Dunkin’ spokesperson said via email: Dunkin’ Donuts and our franchisees share the goal of creating a welcoming and hospitable environment for all guests. The franchise owner has informed us that the sign was posted by their general manager based on her own personal judgment to ensure those standards are being met. While her intent was to address a customer service and satisfaction issue, the franchisee determined her approach was inappropriate and confirmed the sign has been removed. Some on social media are calling for a boycott, with many referring to the sign as racist or bigoted: When did speaking several languages become a reportable offense? Seriously @dunkindonuts ?! — palabranyc (@palabra_nyc) June 18, 2018 @dunkindonuts have you heard about the racist posting at YOUR establishment in Baltimore, MD on 41st street? How are you handling this? — Catherine (@Catherneva) June 18, 2018 Wow!! I wonder why that policy would be scrutinized. Seriously @dunkindonuts why not just go full blown racist — VetGamerRun (@gamer_vet) June 18, 2018 @dunkindonuts: The employees at this location communicate very well with the customers, oftentimes remembering their regular orders & names of their children. If they need 2 communicate w/each other in their first language,why can’t they? Maybe its the GM that needs correction? — READY Initiative (@MyReadyGuide) June 18, 2018 Hostility toward non-English speakers in restaurants is certainly nothing new, though it usually seems to come from customers: Last month at a Fresh Kitchen in New York City, a customer was captured on film screaming at Spanish-speaking staffers to “speak English” and threatening to call Immigrations and Customs Enforcement. In 2015, an Applebee’s customer was arrested after assaulting a fellow diner for speaking Swahili. While English is the most commonly spoken language in the U.S., the country does not in fact have any “official” language — and the notion of a manager asking customers to snitch on employees in exchange for free food certainly takes things to a whole new level. • Some Question Sign Posted at Baltimore Dunkin’ Donuts Store [WBAL] • Man Screams at Restaurant Staff to ‘Speak English’ in Viral Video [Eater NY]<doc-sep>
Starting a weekday morning with coffee is a necessity for many Americans, but on Monday, some Dunkin' Donuts customers say they got a pretty rude awakening at one of the chain's stores, after seeing a sign that has since caused major backlash on social media. The sign read: "If you hear any of our staff shouting in a language other than English, please call 443-415-7775 immediately with the name of the employee to receive a coupon for free coffee and a pastry — General Manager." This sign is being displayed at a @dunkindonuts in Baltimore. General manager posted a sign asking customers to report employees not speaking English. Even offering a reward. #shocking pic.twitter.com/1kUr0lcYuY — Gillian Morley (@GillianMorley_) June 18, 2018 Gillian Morley, a news producer at WBAL-TV in Baltimore, an NBC News affiliate, was among the first to spot the sign and tweeted a photo of it. She added, "This sign is being displayed at a @dunkindonuts in Baltimore. General manager posted a sign asking customers to report employees not speaking English. Even offering a reward. #shocking." However, the United States does not have a legally official language and it wasn't long before the Twitter universe responded with outrage about the note. When did speaking several languages become a reportable offense? Seriously @dunkindonuts ?! — palabranyc (@palabra_nyc) June 18, 2018 when should we expect the "Buy One Donut Get One Free...If You're White" promotion? and will it be a national thing or just this store? — truth balloon (@truth_balloon) June 18, 2018 Angry tweeters called out Dunkin' Donuts and demanded that the sign be addressed as soon as possible. @dunkindonuts you need to stop this or prepare to be boycotted — サントス (@mr_sandtoes) June 18, 2018 @dunkindonuts Please do something about this and this store's general manager. THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE. — silhan (@whitelily22) June 18, 2018 Another user had a different solution and offered their own reward. I am offering a dozen donuts to the first person to steal this sign. — Maoist Ken (@eto_o_o_face) June 18, 2018 Of course, since it is Twitter, instead of responding with some opinion about the content of the sign, some of the people who participated in the social media debate had more to say about the wording of the note itself. Just so I’m clear: SHOUTING IN ENLGISH IS OKAY, RIGHT? — Nicholas Zahn (@nzahn1) June 18, 2018 You've got to wonder why Dunkin Donuts employees should be shouting at all. — Paper Ballots (@Appalachia99) June 18, 2018 Ultimately, Dunkin' Donuts corporate got involved later in the day and sent out a public statement about the sign, noting, "While her [the store's manager] intent was to address a customer service and satisfaction issue, the franchisee determined her approach was inappropriate and confirmed the sign has been removed." . @dunkindonuts sent a statement about the sign. It reads in part: "While her intent was to address a customer service and satisfaction issue, the franchisee determined her approach was inappropriate and confirmed the sign has been removed." #wbaltv — Gillian Morley (@GillianMorley_) June 18, 2018 Ah, the power of social media. Editor's note: This article was updated on June 19, 2018 with additional information about official languages in the U.S.