San Francisco Pizza Shop Fires Employee Who Refused to Serve Police Officers

Two police officers have lunch at the San Francisco restaurant Pizza Squared on Feb. 1, 2023. Lear Zhou/The Epoch Times

SAN FRANCISCO—The restaurant Pizza Squared has fired an employee who would not serve San Francisco police officers.

On Jan. 29, the employee refused to provide service to several officers. The next day, the San Francisco Police Officers Association (SFPOA) notified the restaurant owner of the incident.

In a tweet posted on Jan. 30, Pizza Squared owner Christina Siu wrote that the employee was a trainee just on his third day.

“We expressly told him we didn’t share his views & that he was out of line,” the Twitter post continued. “He was fired at the end of the day.”

San Francisco Police Department Sergeant Rich Cibotti told The Epoch Times: “These incidents are incredibly sad. We have a bunch of hardworking cops trying to get a bite to eat in between the many calls for service.”

To date, it’s unclear why the fired employee refused to serve police officers. Neither the pizza joint nor the SFPOA would reveal the identity of the fired cashier, nor did the cashier himself speak out.

However, the incident took place just two days after Jan. 27, the day a video was released of Tyre Nichols being beaten to death by Memphis police on Jan. 7.

On Jan. 31, the SFPOA posted on Twitter, “Two things that should never get political: pizza & policing.”

The restaurant Pizza Squared in San Francisco on Feb. 1, 2023. Lear Zhou/The Epoch Times

“But the business doesn’t deserve the negative press due to a rogue employee,” said Cibotti. “The blatant disrespect shown by a rogue employee doesn’t reflect on the quality of the business.”

Former San Francisco Police Officer Lou Barberini told The Epoch Times, “An employer should have the right to terminate someone that leverages their position to discriminate against a person’s uniform.”

The pizza shop, located at 885 Brannan Street, was displaying a notice stating “Help Wanted: Cashier” on Feb. 1.

An Epoch Times reporter saw two sworn police officers having lunch at Pizza Squared. Officer H. Nguyen said that “it’s all good” after the SFPOA notified the owner.

This was not the first time San Francisco police officers were refused service. In December 2021, a North Beach brunch spot called Hilda and Jesse declined to serve three uniformed officers. The owner apologized later and said they regretted the decision.