Firehouse Subs employee fired after writing racial slur on receipt

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WIS) - An employee with Firehouse Subs in Columbia, South Carolina has been fired after writing a racial slur on a customer’s receipt where his name should have been.

The customer, Zhe Zhao, posted a photo of the receipt to Facebook yesterday afternoon.

Zhao is an international student who used to attend the University of South Carolina before transferring. He said he was in town visiting a friend when he went to the Firehouse Subs on Garners Ferry Road to order food.

The employee wrote “ching chong” instead of Zhao’s name on the receipt.

Zhao wrote in his Facebook post that he didn’t know the employee and didn’t understand why people have this problem in the United States.

The employee has since been terminated.

A corporate media representative for Firehouse Subs released a statement regarding the issue saying:

"Our guests’ experience is a top priority at Firehouse Subs and we’re saddened to say that this guest was not treated with the heartfelt service we expect at one of our restaurants. The local restaurant owner has taken action and the employee in question was immediately terminated. We have reached out directly to the guest and are working to remedy the situation.”

Zhao has told WIS that he has not been “good” since this happened.

In a follow up to his original post, Zhao posted on Facebook to clarify he placed his order at Firehouse using Door Dash, which is a delivery service. The name that came through on his order, which is on his account, was his name in Chinese.

The restaurant confirmed the worker who was fired changed his name on the order to “ching chong.”

It’s also been noted that the Firehouse employee whose name is on the receipt is not the employee who was found to be at fault and fired. That employee’s name has not been released.