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Safeway cashier fired after directing anti-gay slur at same-sex couple

Safeway cashier fired after directing anti-gay slur at same-sex couple

A grocery store employee at a Washington D.C.-area Safeway has been fired after directing an anti-gay slur at a same-sex couple last weekend.

Jason Morgan and his partner Brendan Harrington stopped by their local Safeway grocery store, one block away from their condominium on the Southwest waterfront, to pick up dinner on Saturday night, reported Metro Weekly.

“We put our groceries up on the conveyer belt, some frozen dinner and wine, and [the cashier] said, ‘Oh God, they’re faggots,'” says Morgan.

“And then Brendan said, ‘I’m sorry I didn’t hear what you said.’ And she said ‘You guys are fucking faggots.'”

The couple said they made several attempts to contact a store manager about the incident, but was unsuccessful. On June 13, the couple filed a complaint with the D.C. Office of Human Rights.

After an inquiry by Metro Weekly, Safeway eventually responded on Thursday, issuing this apology:

”This goes against everything we believe and practice in terms of serving and welcoming our customers, and in being a part of the diverse communities we are privileged to serve,” his statement reads.

”We are at a loss to explain how one of our employees, even one who has been on the job for less than a month, could consider this kind of behavior to be acceptable. The employee has been terminated.”

The couple said their claim is still in process with the District’s Office of Human Rights.

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