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Police in Washington, D.C. are investigating a possible hate crime at a Shake Shack SHAK+0.93% over the weekend after a patron said employees attacked him for kissing his boyfriend.
Video captured of the incident appears to show Shake Shack workers beating up patron Christian Dingus.
Dingus, 28, told NBC Washington that he and his partner, along with a few friends, had been waiting for their food at the Dupont Circle location of the burger chain on Saturday for about 45 minutes. He asked an employee about the delay and said he received an aggressive response. Dingus’ partner took him aside in an attempt to defuse the tension.
“And then he kissed me, and then another worker came up and said ‘Hey, you guys can’t do that here,’” Dingus said.
Dingus’ partner responded negatively after being told he couldn’t kiss Dingus in the fast-food chain, and was then kicked out of the restaurant by a worker.
The worker “continued a confrontation outside, like against the wall,” Dingus said. He then stepped between the worker and his partner,
“At that point, immediately, without a second, the worker just turned on me, starting attacking me,” Dingus told NBC Washington. “At that point, I think there might have been two or three other workers as well, threw me to the ground. I didn’t fight back at all — immediately just kind of went into the fetal position to protect myself.”
Dingus said there was a police car nearby, but cops didn’t get involved until after the fight was over. “I stood up and kind of looked at them like, ‘So, what’s going on? What’re we gonna do?’”
Nobody was arrested, but the police took people’s information. Dingus went to the hospital after the incident. He has a concussion and injuries to his face and body.
Shake Shack SHAK+0.93% said in a statement that it is aware of the incident and taking it “very seriously.”
“At Shake Shack, the safety and well-being of our guests and team members are our top priorities, and we have a zero-tolerance policy for any form of violence,” the company said. “We are fully cooperating with local authorities in their investigation and have suspended the team members involved pending further review. We are committed to taking the appropriate actions based on the findings.”
Shake Shack was founded by restauranteur Danny Meyer and went public in 2015.