A Minnesota mother is demanding accountability after a confrontation between her 16-year-old daughter and a McDonald’s employee was captured on video, showing the employee following a group of teenage girls out of the restaurant before allegedly striking the girl who was recording.
Heather Evans told Atlanta Black Star that the incident happened Sept. 13 at a McDonald’s in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota. Evans said her daughter, who has remained unnamed, had gone to the restaurant with her cousin and several friends when the confrontation began after the group visited the women’s restroom.
Evans said the employee entered the restroom and accused the girls of using drugs, an allegation she said came without any preceding dispute between the employee and the teenagers.
“It happened before they started recording when he walked up to them in the women’s bathroom while they were in there,” Evans told ABS. “He came in there and he was saying a lot of words, but the ones that stuck out to me was like he asked them ‘what are ya’ll in here doing, crack?’ And he continued to say a lot of things to her.”
Evans said the girls questioned why the employee had entered the restroom. Her daughter then began recording the interaction, capturing the remainder of the confrontation.
At the beginning of the footage, the teenager can be heard challenging the employee — who has also not been publicly identified.
“Say that again. Please say that again,” she says.
The employee tells the girls to leave the restaurant.
The teenager then responds to something he says off camera, asking, “Because we’re an ignorant piece of s—t?”
“You idiots think you’re so tough,” the employee can be heard saying.
The teenager warns him, “We sending this to corporate.”
As the girls gather their belongings and move toward the entrance, the employee keeps arguing with them.
“You’re so f—king ignorant,” he says.
“Come on, guys. Every time we come in here, it’s something,” the teenager says.
The employee responds, “It’s my job.”
One of the girls challenges him, saying, “You’re not even doing it though.”
Evans’ daughter, recording the encounter, adds, “You get paid like $20 an hour.”
The comment appears to escalate the exchange further, and the employee began raising his voice.
“You don’t know what I get paid an hour. It has nothing to do with nothing,” the employee said in the clip. “OK, well, why don’t you get a job?” the employee says as he approaches the girls and walks them toward the exit. “Get the f-ck out of here.”
The footage shows the employee following the girls outside into the parking lot rather than remaining inside the restaurant.
“Yeah, I’m coming back,” Evans’ daughter says in the clip.
“You’re trespassing, you piece of s—t,” the employee responds.
The teenager repeats that she is coming back. As the employee continues moving toward the girls and yelling, the Evans’ daughter turns around.
“You said f—k me?” she asks.
“Yeah. You heard what the f—k I said,” the employee yelled in the video, rapidly approaching the group of girls, before appearing to strike the girl’s hand. The impact causes her to drop the device, ending the recording.
People nearby can be heard reacting as the confrontation continues. One girl can be heard stating, “I’m calling the police.”
Evans said her daughter did not provoke the confrontation before the employee entered the restroom and confronted the group. She also pushed back against criticism aimed at her daughter over the language used during the exchange.
Evans said she has told her daughter that arguing with the employee was not the appropriate response, but she does not believe anything the teenager said justified physical contact.
She also said the distinction between the employee striking her daughter or striking the phone does not change her concerns about what happened.
“He hit her hand, and the phone fell,” Evans said. “Whether he hit her or hit the phone, it doesn’t matter. It’s still inappropriate.”
Evans told ABS that she has contacted police and that her family is pursuing legal action. She said McDonald’s has acknowledged the incident publicly but has not communicated directly with the family. Her attorneys are now handling contact with the restaurant.
“I mean, like I said, right now we’re just trying to have the justice that is deserved and have our lawyers figure things out, and take care of everything and make sure everything that’s going on is handled correctly,” Evans said.
“My biggest thing was just about what happened to my daughter. What happened to these girls, being racially profiled, and you know, my daughter is a young woman. This is a man, and it should’ve never happened,” she added.
Evans said the incident has affected her daughter and the other girls involved.
“Like I said it wasn’t nothing that happened. My daughter is very respectful, her friends, and her cousin is very respectful,” Evans said. “My daughter has never had this happen to her. It is a traumatizing thing that happened to her, and you know, it is affecting her and the girls.”
McDonald’s has reportedly notified members of the community that the employee is no longer working at the Brooklyn Center location, according to a report by The Neighborhood Talk.
The investigation and any potential legal action will determine what consequences, if any, follow from the confrontation.
Atlanta Black Star reached out to McDonald’s for comment, but a representative who spoke to the publication did not provide a statement before the publishing deadline.
