It was bad enough that Geoffrey Taylor was fired only a month after he had landed his first job.
It was bad enough that he got fired just as he was trying to get enough money to buy Christmas presents for his siblings and parents.But the worst thing, says the 17-year-old West High School junior, is that he was fired because he is black.
"I was mad and upset," Taylor told the Deseret News Wednesday. "I think it's wrong to fire somebody for their color and not knowing what really happened."
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission agrees.
At the conclusion of an investigation, EEOC Phoenix District Director Charles D. Burtner concluded last month that a manager at the Crossroads McDonald's franchise, owned by J.L. McKenzie Inc. of South Salt Lake, violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by firing three employees in December of 1998 "simply because they were black."
"The commission has previously determined that it is unlawful to terminate an employee because of their race," Burtner wrote in a letter to the parties involved. "I find reasonable cause to believe that (McDonald's) terminated a class of black employees, including (Taylor), because of their race, black."
Franchise owner Jane McKenzie also issued a statement Wednesday decrying her manager's actions: "I do not and will not tolerate any kind of discrimination or harassment in any of my restaurants," McKenzie said.
But if all that doesn't make the experience more palatable, at least it may warn employers "to never fire somebody for no reason (but) for their color," Taylor said.
"I wouldn't want it to happen to anybody else," he said. "I think it (my case) will change some things."
Unlike the night he went home upset, almost in tears, to tell his family that he had been fired, Taylor is fairly relaxed when recalling the incident now.
He remembers working the front counter when a customer approached his friend on the next register and asked to speak to a manager. The customer told the manager that one of the employees was giving away free food. That manager called the head manager, who told Taylor and his friend, who is also black, to punch out.
"I was just kind of confused. I told her that it wasn't me. She kept telling me to get off the clock and leave," Taylor said.
A third friend, who is also black, got fired because she kept asking what was happening with her friends, Taylor added.
While the three friends walked around the mall, a mall security guard stopped them, questioned them about what had happened at McDonald's, and then escorted them to the security office, Taylor said. Salt Lake police were called to investigate because "there was a complaint that we were giving away free food, which was considered stealing."
Police officers determined that "since they didn't have the customer that complained, they had nothing to do with it." But before releasing the teens, security guards took their pictures and made them sign a document stating that they were "banned from the mall for life," Taylor said.
Crossroads Plaza general manager Dave Neilson said the reason the teens were detained is because after they were fired "they created a disturbance in front of McDonald's that was witnessed by several people."
They refused to leave and then they were taken to the security office, Neilson added. "They would not have been permanently trespassed if we had not had to deal with at least two of these individuals prior to this incident." None of those prior incidents involved Taylor.
Neilson could not find a file for Taylor Thursday but said Taylor is still banned from the mall.
"I wish I had had a video camera to videotape him that night when he came to tell me what had happened," said Taylor's aunt, Janet Salter. "He was in tears almost. . . . He talked about it for a long time."
Fortunately for Taylor, a "very bad experience" may turn into a welcome asset. Instead of pursuing a civil rights lawsuit, Taylor's attorney, Kevin Watkins, has proposed a $50,000 settlement plus $250,000 in punitive damages.
"Under the circumstances, the figures are very reasonable," Watkins said, pointing out that, embarrassment aside, Taylor may have missed out on McDonald's educational reimbursement and management training programs.
The franchise has counter-offered $5,000.
"We are cooperating fully with (EEOC) and we're working with them to resolve this matter," McKenzie said.
Watkins believes it is important to send a clear message to the company about the need to train its employees properly.
Taylor agrees: "They could have tried to talk to us instead of responding like they did," he said. "They could have asked questions or talked to other employees."