Arby's workers disciplined after refusing to serve officer in South Florida

PEMBROKE PINES, FL -- A manager has been fired and a drive-thru worker has been put on paid leave at a South Florida Arby's restaurant accused of refusing to serve a police officer.

The Atlanta-based company confirmed the disciplinary actions Friday.

Pembroke Pines police say a sergeant attempted to order at the Arby's drive-thru Tuesday evening, but a manager told her a drive-thru worker didn't want to serve her because she was a police officer.

Arby's CEO Paul Brown previously apologized to Police Chief Dan Giustino and released a statement Friday explaining that the incident seems to have resulted from a bad joke.

According to the statement, the crew member had gotten busy and asked the manager for help processing the police sergeant's credit card. That's when the manager jokingly told the sergeant the crew member didn't want to serve her.