Smoothie King fires employee involved in racist receipt incident in Conroe

CONROE, Texas (KTRK) -- A Smoothie King employee who was reportedly involved in a racist remark on a receipt has been fired.

The incident happened at a Smoothie King in Conroe. A mother took to Facebook to share a photo of the receipt, dated one week ago, that identified three young customers with an offensive term.

On Tuesday, activists said they were glad the employee was fired but were disappointed it took this long to take action.

"So that's what you think about us?" said Dr. Candice Matthews, with the Rainbow PUSH Coalition. "Well, I'm (going to) tell you what we think about you. We're not going to have anybody that looks like us come into your Smoothie King."

In a statement, Smoothie King said it has a zero-tolerance policy toward racism. The company said the local store owner called the parents of the customers to apologize and implemented inclusion training for all employees.

Read Smoothie King full statement below:

"It is important for us to state that we are and always have been committed to creating an inclusive environment that treats all team members and guests with kindness and respect and we have zero tolerance for discrimination or racism. In response to the incident that took place at our Conroe location, the local store owner took immediate action and terminated the employee involved and made a personal phone call to the individuals' parents to extend apologies and resolve the matter. The local owner also took further action and enforced mandatory retraining for all employees that outlines proper inclusion protocol. As an independently owned and operated franchise location, we will continue to remain diligent in our efforts to create an environment free from hate."