A group of special education students from Dr. James Craik Elementary School in Maryland were refused service at a Cracker Barrel restaurant in Waldorf, leading to an influx of criticism and negative reviews. The incident occurred during a field trip as part of the school’s community-based instruction program. The students, some of whom had significant cognitive disabilities or autism, were eventually allowed to place a to-go order after a staffing shortage caused delays. However, the situation led to a protest being organized by parents, as well as widespread support on social media. The restaurant has since removed the general manager and two other employees, opened an internal investigation, and issued a statement apologizing for the poor communication and service standards. Yelp temporarily disabled reviews of the restaurant due to the increased attention, but they plan to clean up the page and re-enable reviews once the situation calms down. An organized protest, called #CanWeEatNow, is set to take place at the restaurant on Sunday, and has gained attention and support from individuals across the country. The school district’s superintendent, Maria Navarro, expressed disappointment in how the students were treated and emphasized a zero-tolerance policy against discrimination.
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Cracker Barrel dismisses 3 employees following incident involving special education group
