'Lady Chinky Eyes': Papa John's Store Calls Woman Racial Slur In Receipt (PHOTO) (UPDATE)

Minhee Cho went to Papa John's for some fast food goodness. Little did she know, she would get it served with a side of racism.

At around 12:30 p.m. today, Papa John's customer Minhee Cho tweeted a photo of a receipt she received at a Papa John's restaurant in uptown, New York City.

In it, under the customer's name section, the restaurant employee who rang up the order used the racial slur "lady chinky eyes" to describe her.

@mintymin
Minhee Cho

Hey @PapaJohns just FYI my name isn't "lady chinky eyes" http://t.co/RLdj2Eij

January 7, 2012 5:06 pm via Twitpic Reply Retweet Favorite

PHOTO:

Cho posted the photo to her Twitter page, where it was quickly retweeted by hundreds of people. By 3 p.m., the photo had been viewed over 25,000 times.

When The Huffington Post reached the Papa John's in question for comment, the assistant manager -- who only gave her first name as Marjani -- said she was unaware of the incident.

"I apologize," she said in a phone interview. "I'm sure they didn't mean any harm but some people will take it offensive." She added that she "had an idea of who it was," based on the time of the receipt.

Marjani went on to say that this was the kind of behavior that would result in disciplinary action, but declined to go into further detail on what she planned to do.

Papa John's has yet to respond to the incident in a statement or its Facebook and Twitter accounts, but with such a PR disaster on their hands, they most likely will soon.

UPDATE: Papa John's has responded to the incident on Facebook. A post on its official page reads:

We were extremely concerned to learn of the receipt issue in New York. This act goes against our company values, and we've confirmed with the franchisee that this matter was addressed immediately and that the employee is being terminated. We are truly sorry for this customer's experience.

The company has also addressed the matter on its Twitter feed, tweeting to multiple people that "We have issued an apology, are reaching out to customer & franchise employee is being terminated."

Comments

[rich maytard]

04:42 PM on 05/05/2012

That's some funny stuff.

[wickedlilxtalena]

08:17 PM on 02/18/2012

The thing is no matter what race you are, racism exists in this country and probably always will....ignorance can go with a supreme pizza too.

[oldstuff]

07:19 PM on 02/18/2012

Papa John's Velly Velly Solly.

[rfmaneater]

07:49 AM on 02/26/2012

So politically incorrect and yet so velly velly funny

[trailslayer666]

01:21 PM on 02/04/2012

Chinky eyes is suddenly outrageous? Is there a politically correct way to refer to the eyes of orientals?

[Qballe]

08:16 AM on 02/09/2012

Orientals???

:facepalm:

[sadwitness]

07:21 PM on 02/18/2012

you are a scum.sucking.idiot that is not offensive to you, right?

[unnatural]

05:28 PM on 01/27/2012

What would have happened if the guy wrote "Lady Black Shelled" for a customer? This is an example of what will happen on a race which considered being prone on addressing their own rights. Racism will continue and only thing that can prevent from it is "OWN VOICE" and "Education". No problem with expression of a "Looking different" but the way of it (When, How, Where) can clearly be considered as RACIST BEHAVIOR. Consequences should be followed on the guy and Papa Johns who gave out this chance.

[unnatural]

05:13 PM on 01/27/2012

The guy couldn't write "Lady Black Shelled", because he knew what consequences would follow after all. This is an example of what will happen on a race which considered prone on addressing their own rights . Racism will continue and only thing that can prevent from it is "OWN VOICE" and "Education". No problem with expression of a "Looking different" but the way of it (When, How, Where) can clearly be considered as RACIST BEHAVIOR. Consequences should be followed on the guy who wrote that way.

[justmks]

02:21 AM on 01/26/2012

Is she offended by being called lady or chinky eyes?

[alohasiempre]

06:28 PM on 01/15/2012

silly silly and more silly... I have been a FKG haole [usually meant as a derogative for 'white'] my whole life.. I have been hated beat up threatened and shut out, pissed off and pissed on, refused jobs and fired.. so.. they can call me what ever.. don't change a thing and all this being so over sensitive and crying like wounded 3 year olds don't make it any better .. we got blacks wanting to sue the world if you offend them in some imaginary way and now all the rest are starting to join in.. omlg.. grow up .. buy a thicker skin cause no one meant any harm .. now it the thing said FKG Chink lady.. then you might have a point. and kiss it cause every race was in slavery at some point in time be glad YOUR slave ancestors made it here and not the Middle East or Africa.

[travlrnusa]

05:02 AM on 01/25/2012

i agree, well said. all this political correctness and every race so overly sensitive about every little comment is absurd. grow up, people! invest your time in something more constructive, like going to work and helping the economy!

[entreMundo]

12:33 PM on 01/15/2012

I'm amazed at how many people on here are freaking out about this without realizing it's a term that's widely used in the Asian American community... check any dating site and you'll find people looking for and claiming to have 'chinky eyes.' When I lived in Chinatown I heard it on a daily basis, almost always as a positive... it may have been an insult here, but not everything dealing with communities you are not familiar with is as clear cut as you might think.

[chadizzy]

04:16 PM on 01/12/2012

Words dont offend people people choose to be offended by words!

[travlrnusa]

11:01 AM on 01/14/2012

tell that to lady chinky eyes...

[carmenalex]

07:38 PM on 02/18/2012

So you don't mind if I call you a d#ckwad, or c3ntmouth?

[chadizzy]

04:14 PM on 01/12/2012

When I get home today I will have chinky eyes too!

[PORTCITYCOIN]

12:20 PM on 01/12/2012

My wife has chinky eyes so what!

[sivaones]

07:33 AM on 01/12/2012

First mistake... Eating at a papa johns. Your in NY the best place for real pizza.

[batcookie]

05:30 AM on 01/13/2012

I'm glad I'm not the only one annoyed by the fact that someone with access to the greatest pizza on the planet would be going to a chain restaurant. Racism is one of my biggest pet peeves, but I find it hard to feel for someone who goes to a NYC Papa John's. You could be mugged and tentacle raped by sewer monsters and I still wouldn't feel bad for you if you were in a chain pizza place in NYC. Maybe that'll teach you to eat real pizza.

[Grunt Cakes]

07:18 PM on 01/11/2012

Although the actions of the Papa John's worker was moronic ,insensitive and ultimately in an attempt to be funny racist. The shear fact that is newsworthy says MORE about our the sorry state of our cultural psyche. I also read today ( on Fox Not News)that the manhattan boro president wants to ban swastika earrings (in reverse) which are in fact symbols of tibetan buddha dharma because he views it as racist . Lets all take a deep breath and relax.
Sorry ! Journalists there are real stories newsworthy about the human condition out there ,if you are willing to actually RESEARCH THEM AND STOP FEEDING THE PUBLIC ,GOSSIPY CRAP!

[moxiemox]

06:37 PM on 01/11/2012

There are some here who think that "chink" is not offensive because they know Asians or Asian-Americans who use it to refer to themselves. Or that the n-word is okay to use because Africans or African-Americans use it among themselves.

The point is, people can call themselves what they want and joke about themselves within their own ethnic group. But when you're talking about somebody outside your ethnic, you need to be respectful. It's not rocket science. Joke about yourself. Not about other people.

And by the way, hanging out with, sleeping with, or even marrying into another ethnic group does not automatically give you the right to use ethnic slurs without giving offense. Belonging to one minority does not give you the right to use ethnic slurs about other groups without giving offense. Use your head and be respectful.

[batcookie]

05:32 AM on 01/13/2012

"Use your head and be respectful"? Are you actually expecting intelligent behavior out of human beings of ANY ethnicity? That's funny. You're funny.

[maaries]

10:49 PM on 02/14/2012

I personally don't think that an ethnic group that uses such slurs to refer to themselves have any standing to complain when others use the same slur. If it's a slur, and if you object, don't use it--period. Using the slur to refer only to members of your own ethnicity is not OK--and it reflects how you think about yourself--not psychologically healthy, to say the least. Slurs are slurs are slurs--whether at others or your own group. Don't point fingers at others if you do it yourself.