An Atlanta-based IKEA faced a full-blown backlash by its employees due to the choice of menu items they decided to serve on Juneteenth.
The menu, which claimed to “honor and persevere Black Americans,” was reportedly sent out to employees before the observance of Juneteenth and contained menu items such as fried chicken, collard greens, watermelon, and mac and cheese.
Employees were outraged at the menu and called it racially insensitive.
In an interview with a CBS affiliate station employees also stated not one black employee gave input on the menu.
Once the menu items were released it is reported that nearly thirty three employees called out from work.
One employee stated, “It caused a lot of people to be upset. People actually wanted to quit, people weren’t coming back to work. None of the coworkers who sat down to create the menu, no one was Black.”
The store manager came out and apologized for the menu and eventually changed the items after the uproar but a local customer came out in support of the employees and the distaste for the companies actions by stating, “I’m just frankly disappointed in the learning process, you shouldn’t learn after you have insulted all of your black employees.”
