Pregnant Popeyes Manager Fired After Robbery

After word from HQ, franchise owner says she can have job back
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Apr 23, 2015 12:42 AM CDT
Pregnant Popeyes Manager Fired After Robbery
The robber, who's still at large, can be seen in this still from security footage.   (DnewsMnews)

A Popeyes shift manager roughed up during an armed robbery says she was fired within 48 hours after she refused to pay back the $400 the thief made off with. Marissa Holcomb, who is pregnant with her fourth child, tells KHOU the robber forced other employees to the floor during the March 31 heist. "By the back of my shirt, he pulled me up and he pushed me to the front," she says. "He told me to give him everything out of my safe." But she could only open the register—which franchise owner Z&H Foods says had too much cash in it, in violation of company policy. Holcomb says she put cash in the safe as regularly as she could, but the Channelview, Texas, restaurant was swamped because of a $1.19 chicken deal.

Holcomb has now been offered her job back: After KHOU contacted Popeyes headquarters, CEO Cheryl Bachelder said the company had spoken to the franchise owner and "will closely monitor this until it is appropriately resolved." In a press release last night, the company said the franchise owner "has met with, apologized to, and offered to rehire" Holcomb. The owner says he wants to "apologize to her, our employees, the public, and other franchise operators of the Popeyes system." Holcomb has been offered $2,000 in back pay as well as her job back, and she tells KHOU that while returning is a tough decision in light of how she was treated, "I do need a way to support my kids." (More fast food stories.)

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