Chipotle Faces Boycott Calls

Chipotle has angered conservatives on social media, with the fast food chain facing boycott calls.

The furor stems from a viral post originally shared to Reddit's r/Chipotle community.

User Extreme_Paper5550 said they're a 23-year-old college student working for the Mexican grill. According to their post, they were written up for "accidentally misgendering" a new employee during training.

"I would say I'm known for being pretty friendly," the Redditor wrote.

"But I was recently training a new hire (somebody I've never met in my life mind that), and as I'm showing them how to set up line I say 'oh bro we never move anything without gloves.'

"They snap back and say 'my pronouns are they/them use them correctly or don't talk to me.' I take a step back and go throughout my day without speaking to the little s***."

Later into the shift, the general manager pulled the poster aside. The new employee had reported them for "misgendering harassment."

"[The manager] said his hands are tied," Extreme_Paper5550 continued. "I have to receive a full-a** write up. Like I'm not tripping right? Should I just quit or what [because what the f***]."

The post went viral after it was shared to X, formerly Twitter, on Monday by conservative political commentator Nick Adams, receiving over 672,000 views.

"I'm done," Adams' wrote alongside a screenshot of the post. "I will never eat at Chipotle again, their guacamole isn't even that good."

Although Extreme_Paper didn't state their gender, Adams proclaimed any company that "writes up their hard working alpha male employees for accidentally 'misgendering' someone" will be deprived of his custom.

In a follow-up post, Adams shared a video of himself outside of a Chipotle restaurant. Holding a burrito, he accused the chain of going "woke" with its "diversity, equality and inclusion" policy.

In response to Extreme_Paper5550's post, Chipotle told Newsweek: "We are investigating this matter to determine if this disciplinary claim is fake."

Other conservatives also threatened to boycott the brand, with Brigitte Gabriel commenting: "I am done with Chipotle!"

"Woke Chipotle will NOT be passing my lips and I will NOT be apologizing for it!" said @LSeashack.

"Will never eat there again," wrote Joe Wallin, while Rilez said: "Go woke, go broke!"

"I'm done losing my freedoms because others are butt hurt," wrote K ONeil. "I'm done with business that feel pronouns are more important than my business dollars."

However, other users defended Chipotle, hitting out at both the original poster and Adams.

"Use their preferred pronouns, it is not that hard," said Wayne Parker, in response to Extreme_Paper5550. "Besides I am sure Chipotle will survive with out your fat a**."

Pauly C believed there is more to the Redditor's story than the post reveals, adding that if Adams planned to boycott a company, he should "learn to properly say the name of the company," poking fun at his burrito video.

Chipotle is not the only fast food giant currently being "canceled." However, the reasons behind the boycott calls are varied.

Last autumn, a McDonald's branch in Israel was blasted by Palestinian advocates for offering free meals to Israeli military personnel.

On October 7, Palestinian militant group Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel, killing 1,200 people. Israel subsequently fired airstrikes into the Gaza Strip, where Hamas is based.

Supplies of food, medicine, energy and fuel into Gaza have been cut, with Israel launching a ground offensive in late October. At least 29,000 Gazans have died as of February 20, according to the Associated Press.

The boycott has cost McDonald's more than $1 million.

Another food and drink behemoth to lose money due to its response to the Israel-Hamas war is Starbucks. The coffee chain was slammed for suing the unaffiliated union, Starbucks Workers United, in December, after it posted a pro-Palestinian message to its social media accounts. The company lost $11 billion in market value in less than a month.

Burger King is also currently under fire, following accusations of poor customer service and social media trolling by the brand's customer service team.

Update 02/21/24, 2:35 a.m. ET: This article has been updated to include comment from Chipotle.