Chipotle Employee's ‘Spontaneous, Unplanned Action’ Forced the Fast-Food Chain to Apologize to NYPD

Chipotle Mexican Grill issued an apology Monday after an action taken by an employee at a New York City restaurant.

A Chipotle restaurant is seen on March 5, 2014 in Miami, Florida. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

“It’s disgusting how people don’t respect cops anymore,” Jackie Cortes, a retired NYPD lieutenant, told WPIX-TV.

A spokesperson for Chipotle said that nine officers were trying to order food at a location in Brooklyn when an employee put his hands in the air.

The gesture appeared to be in reference to the "hands up don't shoot" motion made by Ferguson protesters upset over the shooting death of Michael Brown.

The officers immediately left, according to WPIX, and some have since called for a boycott of the national chain.

On Monday, the CEO released a statement apologizing for the incident.

“We work very hard to ensure that every customer in our restaurants feels welcome and is treated with respect. Clearly, the actions of this crew member undermined that effort,” the statement said. “Our investigation has shown that this appears to have been a spontaneous, unplanned action taken by an individual crew member and was not a coordinated effort by the staff of the restaurant.”

[sharequote align="center"]“In no way was the behavior of this crew member consistent with our culture..."[/sharequote]

“In no way was the behavior of this crew member consistent with our culture and our values as a company," it added. "We have taken appropriate actions with regard to the crew member involved, but we are not at liberty to discuss the specific actions taken.”

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