Dad says daughter was called 'this': Angry parents protest Cracker Barrel over students' treatment
Andrew Blumhardt said his daughter, 7, was one of the children denied service. He said the server told her aide, “Can you move this,” referring to his daughter, who uses an electric wheel chair.
A crowd of community members gathered under gray skies Sunday afternoon outside the Maryland Cracker Barrel where a group of special needs and autistic children were denied dine-in service earlier this month.
The demonstrators held signs reading “treat us equally” and “inclusion is a right not a privilege.” A couple wore shirts and sweatshirts with rainbow puzzle pieces, a symbol of autism awareness.
“God loves and accepts everyone! Why can’t Cracker Barrel?” another sign read.
Earlier in December, a group of 11 students and seven staff members from the Charles County Public Schools District were denied dine-in service at the Cracker Barrel in Waldorf, Maryland, Superintendent Maria Navarro said in a statement. The field trip was a part of community-based instruction for students in special education programs, allowing them to perform practical skills and socialize with the public.
The students attend Dr. James Craik Elementary School and belong to the district's ACHIEVE program, for students with "significant cognitive disabilities" and SOAR program, for students with autism.
Cracker Barrel, in a statement, pushed back on the notion that the restaurant refused service to the group, adding that "operational breakdowns caused by staffing shortages and poor communication on our part led us to fall well short of our service standards that day."
In response, the company said, it completed an internal investigation, let go of three store employees, including the general manager, and moved forward with "specialized training" for all employees and the Waldorf location.
"We apologize for not meeting our standards and failing to provide these students and teachers with the hospitality for which Cracker Barrel is known," the statement read.
Protest begins: 'Can we eat now?'
A chant rang out among the protesters – one man with a bullhorn called out “can we eat,” while others responded, “now.”
The group broke into other chant soon after: “Treat us equally,” and “our kids matter.”
Less than a half hour after the protest began, dozens more people had joined, some with their children, covering the block next to the restaurant’s entrance.
'Treated as human beings'
When Johnna Penrod found out about Cracker Barrel’s treatment of her daughter, who is nonverbal, and 10 of her classmates, it confirmed her already-existing fears that her daughter would struggle to be accepted out in the world.
“We should be treated as human beings, not as less than because we're different than the average person,” said Penrod, 29, at the protest outside the restaurant on Sunday. Penrod wore a sweatshirt reading, “#CanWeEatNow,” which she said she had made for the protest.
Penrod’s husband, Dustin Reed, organized the protest when she was left dissatisfied after a meeting with Cracker Barrel executives about the incident. “They didn’t support anything that we said,” she said. “They even called our teachers liars during the meeting.”
Penrod, of nearby White Plains, said the demonstrators were a mix of friends, family, strangers and community members. “I'm very happy that it's gotten the light that it has,” she said. “For the most part, things like this don't come to light. It just gets ignored.”
“We are here to let the world know that everyone should be created equally, regardless of their abilities or disabilities.”
Cracker Barrel declined to comment on the details of the meeting.
Dad says Cracker Barrel staff called his daughter 'this'
Andrew Blumhardt joined the protest alongside his 7-year-old daughter Mary, one of the children denied dine-in service at the restaurant on Dec. 3.
Blumhardt, 36, said Mary’s server told her aide, “Can you move this,” referring to his daughter, who uses an electric wheelchair, as “this.” Then, one of the servers kept bumping into her chair.
Once the kids left their seats, Blumhardt said, they had to wait in the gift shop, prompting a customer to complain.
Cracker Barrel declined to comment on the incident.
“Not everyone knows what kids who have disabilities like this go through,” he said. “Obviously, the staff at Cracker Barrel didn’t know.”
Blumhardt said his family was overwhelmed by support from the community in the wake of the incident. “We got a lot of compassion, understanding, caring,” he said.
Other businesses reached out too, ”very genuinely and sincerely saying, ‘We want you to come visit our business,’” he said.
Blumhardt said going on trips to public places is a high point for Mary. “She lights up around people,” he said.
“You can tell it’s different for her.”
Cracker Barrel diner: 'They should have been able to get something to eat'
Kurt Yancy Williams, 52, dining at the Maryland Cracker Barrel, said he hadn't heard of the protest, but he believes no one in the U.S. should face discrimination at businesses.
"If they came in looking for something to eat, they should have been able to get something to eat," he said.
A Cracker Barrel representative declined comment to Paste BN and prevented Paste BN from continuing the interview with Yancy Williams.
Protesters block traffic
Dozens of demonstrators marched across the road outside the Cracker Barrel, blocking traffic as they chanted, “Treat us equally” and “our kids matter.”
Several cars honked in unison and support.
“There’s only two sides—equality and the other side,” one woman shouted.
Cups of hot chocolate left by Cracker Barrel, protesters say
A tray of cups of hot chocolate was left outside for protesters by Cracker Barrel employees, protesters said.
Dustin Reed, a father of one of the special needs children refused dine-in service at the restaurant, moved the cups away from the demonstration. The cups were untouched.
“That right there speaks volumes of their company,” said Dyotha Swat, president of the Charles County NAACP, who also joined the protest, pointing to the cups. “I don’t have words for that.”
Nearby, protesters chanted, “Shut it down.”
Protester once worked at Maryland Cracker Barrel
After college, Jeremiah Smith, 35, briefly worked at the Waldorf, Maryland, Cracker Barrel where 11 children with disabilities were refused dine-in service earlier this month. Now a chef at the Department of Justice and the father of two children with autism, two and three years old, Smith said hearing about the incident hit him hard.
"There's no excuse for not serving people," he said. "I was in there every morning– 48 bags of pancake mix, eggs you crack in there, you throw the bacon on the grill. There's nothing hard about that."
He came to the protest in part to support local teachers. "They sacrificed so much for my kids," he said.
Smith's son is slowly becoming verbal, while his daughter is still non-verbal. But she has other ways to express herself, he said.
"I wake up every day waiting to get to see my daughter smile," he said. "She gives me a kiss, and I know she's loved."
Cracker Barrel's meeting with parents was 'superficial'
Cracker Barrel's response to the incident was "superficial," said Kisa Lee, 43, whose son was among the 11 children denied dine-in service at the Maryland Cracker Barrel.
Lee's husband attended the meeting company executives held with the children's parents. But the meeting was geared toward asking parents to share their feelings, not concrete actions, Lee said.
"I was expecting sensitivity training," she said. "But instead, the meeting was more like, 'Oh, yeah, we understand you're hurt.'"
"They're even disputing some of the accounts" of teachers about the incident, Lee added.
"To me, I just want genuine reactions and genuine action, and the demonstration that they care about the community," she said.
What happened at the Cracker Barrel?
According to Navarro, ahead of the school group's visit, Charles County Public Schools staff notified the Waldorf Cracker Barrel of the group's size and purpose of its visit. But they were assured reservations were unnecessary.
Upon arrival, the Cracker Barrel general manager told teaching staff the restaurant couldn't accommodate the group and asked for the location to be removed from an approved list of restaurants for community-based instruction field trips, Charles County Public Schools special education teacher Katie Schneider said in an email to parents.
Though the group did not dine in, the restaurant permitted the students and staff to place a to-go order. Schneider said as the group waiting inside the restaurant for the food, "servers were blatantly rude to our staff and ignored all of our students."
After about an hour of waiting, Schneider said the students moved to wait inside the school bus outside. Ultimately, the group ate its lunch back at the elementary school.
Cracker Barrel dismisses 3 employees, opens investigation
In a statement, Cracker Barrel pushed back on Navarro's claim that the group was refused service, adding that a staffing shortage led to the closure of the restaurant's second dining room.
In response to the events with the school group, the restaurant's general manager and two employees were let go, Cracker Barrel told Paste BN. The franchise also opened an internal investigation, interviewing guests and other employees.
On Dec. 9, Cracker Barrel executives met with Charles County Public Schools staff and parents to discuss how the group was treated at the restaurant, with some parents expressing disappointment about the emotional meeting.
"We strive to create a welcoming environment and great experience for guests of all abilities, and we have a zero-tolerance policy against any form of discrimination," Cracker Barrel said in a statement on Tuesday. "We apologize for not meeting our standards and failing to provide these students and teachers with the hospitality for which Cracker Barrel is known."