--- description: Noodles and Company fired employees who refused a serve a police officer at a Alexandria, Va. location of the restaurant earlier this week title: Restaurant Employees Fired After Refusing To Serve Police Officer image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf94c7c7713c0e4b7/6988a038a988ca24a36b8dfd/noodles_company_police.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Restaurant Employees Fired After Refusing to Serve Police Officer by [Emma Ockerman](/author/emma-ockerman/) ## Emma Ockerman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 29, 2016 12:00 AM CUT  A Noodles and Company restaurant in Denver on June 11, 2015\. Two employees at a Virginia location have been fired after refusing to serve a police officer. A Noodles and Company restaurant in Denver on June 11, 2015\. Two employees at a Virginia location have been fired after refusing to serve a police officer.RJ Sangosti—Denver Post via Getty Images by [Emma Ockerman](/author/emma-ockerman/) ## Emma Ockerman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 29, 2016 12:00 AM CUT [Noodles and Company](http://newsfeed.time.com/2013/07/02/the-years-hottest-ipo-a-pasta-chain/?iid=sr-link6 "undefined") fired two employees who refused a [serve a police officer](http://time.com/4398392/obama-police-reform-report-task-force-on-21st-century-policing/?iid=sr-link6 "undefined") at a Alexandria, Va. location of the restaurant earlier this week. On Monday, a cook at the restaurant who saw a [female police officer waiting in line](http://time.com/4038278/whataburger-police-fired/?iid=sr-link1 "undefined") allegedly told a cashier she wouldn’t cook for her, the [Washington _Post_](https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/noodles-and-company-employees-fired-for-refusing-to-serve-police-officer/2016/07/28/fa0b9080-54d9-11e6-88eb-7dda4e2f2aec%5Fstory.html "undefined") reports. The two employees then laughed, at which point the officer walked out. “We have concluded the two team members in question acted inappropriately and we immediately terminated their employment,” the company said in a statement received by _The Post._ “We have the utmost respect for law enforcement officials and value the relationship we have built with the local Alexandria Police Department over the years.” On Tuesday, Alexandria Police Chief Earl Cook talked to the manager at the restaurant, who apologized. The company has also apologized to the officer involved. Noodles and Company called the language “inexcusable” in a statement, and said “discrimination of any kind is never tolerated” at the company. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4429806/noodles-and-company-fires-employees/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4429806/noodles-and-company-fires-employees/"},"headline":"Restaurant Employees Fired After Refusing to Serve Police Officer","datePublished":"2016-07-29T00:00:32.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T23:38:43.418Z","description":"Noodles and Company called the act \"inexcusable\"","url":"https://time.com/4429806/noodles-and-company-fires-employees/","keywords":["police","Virginia"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf94c7c7713c0e4b7/6988a038a988ca24a36b8dfd/noodles_company_police.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Emma Ockerman","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/emma-ockerman/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf94c7c7713c0e4b7/6988a038a988ca24a36b8dfd/noodles_company_police.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Testing breakfast at Noodles","caption":"Testing breakfast at Noodles","creditText":"RJ Sangosti—Denver Post via Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4429806/noodles-and-company-fires-employees/","name":"Restaurant Employees Fired After Refusing to Serve Police Officer"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Clinton Remarks on Police Reform at NAACP Convention","description":"Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton delivered remarks at the annual NAACP convention in Cincinnati on Monday.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/LcAzyhQX/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2016-07-18T18:11:13.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/LcAzyhQX.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4429806/noodles-and-company-fires-employees/","duration":"PT1M20S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4429806/noodles-and-company-fires-employees/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```