To the Editor:
We at D.P. Dough hope that people are interested in the truth of what happened the night of Sept. 18. For this reason alone, we are giving you a play by play of the situation that occurred that night. In addition, we encourage anyone who wants to verify the actual facts to exercise their right under the freedom of information law to see the Ithaca Police Department’s official report.
We hope this resolves any confusion about how the events unfolded that night.
At approximately 1:30 a.m. the assistant store manager was in the back office when she heard screaming. She went to the front of the store to see what was going on and saw four females screaming at two males at the doorway to the store. She told everyone to calm down in an effort to keep the peace. She was then screamed at by one of the females for in her words “condoning” the situation. After being screamed at and after the females refused to quiet down after several warnings, the assistant manager called the police, as our policies and procedures dictate for this type of problem. Upon the police arrival, they calmed the situation down and everyone went their separate ways.
As far as the two males being former employees, that is in incorrect statement. One of the males involved was a former employee for a brief period who happened to be eating at the store that night. They were not acquaintances with the assistant manager on duty. In fact, the former employee had his employment terminated at D.P. Dough for attendance problems by the very same management staff last year. He has not been employed by D.P. Dough in approximately one year.
D.P. Dough does not condone any discrimination or harassment in any shape or form. No such discrimination or harassment has ever been alleged or reported against D.P. Dough. Should any instances of discrimination or harassment at any level be found, that employee would be terminated at once. In addition the matter would immediately be forwarded to the police for investigation should it appear any laws may have been broken.
In short, I sincerely apologize that these customers had a bad experience at D.P. Dough. Unfortunately, as in any business, we are not able to verify the backgrounds or question customers’ personal views prior to serving them food. If we see a situation that seems like it is escalating, it is our policy to immediately call the police BEFORE such incidents get out of hand. This is to protect ALL parties involved, as well as our employees, and innocent customers/bystanders.
Should these customers feel we handled this situation in any less than a professional and courteous manner to everyone involved, I would encourage them to contact me directly as soon as possible, rather than publish outright slanderous lies about our establishment that has been part of the diverse Ithaca community for over 10 years.
Joel Rosenthal, co-owner, D.P. Dough