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crablouie.jpg
Crab louie, pictured above, seems to be at the center of a waiter's argument that Christine Gregoire may have gotten him fired. Photo courtesy of Christine Ma.

Server fired over Gov. Gregoire's 'Crab Louie' order

BY Brandi Kruse  on November 30, 2012 @ 8:48 am (Updated: 12:17 pm - 11/30/12 )

An Olympia waiter claims he lost his job after he told Washington Governor Christine Gregoire they didn't have "Crab Louie" on the menu.

Derrick, who did not want to use his last name, was fired from Anthony's Hearthfire Grill this week because he did not provide the governor a high "level of service," he said in an email to The Dori Monson Show.

While both the governor's office and the restaurant confirm the incident, there are different explanations of what exactly occurred.

Derrick said the governor came into the restaurant over the weekend with her husband, Mike, and asked to order "Crab Louie," a salad that features fresh crab topped with hard boiled eggs, tomatoes, cucumbers, asparagus and other vegetables.

He told the governor the dish was not on the menu.

Typically, the kitchen would prepare the dish anyway. However, Derrick said previous customers have requested a "Crab Louie" and the kitchen told him to turn them away.

"They have told me that we don't have all the ingredients for the dish," he said. "So I told her that we didn't have all the ingredients for this dish, but that our other restaurant would have it."

Derrick sent them to Anthony's Homeport, which is under the same ownership and less than one mile from Hearthfire. He said the governor and her husband were very cordial, and did not at all seem bothered by having to go elsewhere.

"When they left they said goodbye to me and the troopers said goodbye, too," said Derrick, referring to the governor's security detail. "There was no animosity whatsoever when she left the restaurant."

But less than an hour later, Derrick said he was approached by a manager who was upset that the governor had been turned away over a "Crab Louie." The manager allegedly told Derrick that the governor complained about his service when she arrived at the other restaurant.

Derrick said his managers met with him and said he could harm the reputation of Anthony's by treating the governor poorly.

He was subsequently fired.

Angry, Derrick and his mother called the governor's office. He spoke with a member of her staff, who then asked the governor and her security detail about the incident.

"She was perfectly happy with the server's service and actually recalled the conversation as being a pretty decent conversation," said Cory Curtis, a spokesperson for the governor's office who had been briefed on the situation.

"The governor did not complain and, in fact, was very shocked that all this happened," he said.

Curtis said their office took the matter very seriously, and called the restaurant's manager to see what happened.

"The way it was portrayed to me by the manager was the employee didn't follow their customer service protocol in this instance, which is when a customer asks for something that isn't on the menu you get a floor manager involved, which he didn't do," he said.

Curtis said he was also told that the restaurant already had complaints about Derrick's performance.

While a spokesperson for Anthony's confirmed that Derrick had indeed been let go, they would not speak about specific personnel issues. They did confirm, however, that they received a call from the governor's office about Derrick's termination.

"What I can tell you is that we are a family-owned company with a 40-year history in the Northwest," said Lane Hoss, Anthony's vice president of marketing. "We value our employees and we go out of our way to take care of guests. We go out of our way to make sure that if even something we have is not available specifically on the menu, that we would try to provide that for them."

While Derrick isn't sure who to blame, he does not believe he would have been fired over the incident had the customer not been the governor.

Brandi Kruse, KIRO Radio Reporter
Brandi Kruse is a reporter for KIRO Radio who is as spontaneous and adventurous in her free time as she is on the job. Brandi arrived at KIRO Radio in March 2011 and has already collected three regional Edward R. Murrow awards for her reporting.
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Comments (75)


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  • RonJ wrote...
    I went to the
    November 30, 2012 5:12 pm
    one in Anacortes and was not impressed. Nice view etc but mediocre food at best.
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  • ratrustle wrote...
    Wow!
    November 30, 2012 5:36 pm
    I bet the manager never thought that this would blow up like it did when he let Derrick go. But instead of a knee-jerk firing he/she could have used this as a teaching moment. I own three restaurants and our staff are the heart of our business. If Derrick truly messed up then great -- lose him and move on. But that doesn't sound like what happened here. I think the wrong employee hit the road here. If I were the owner, I would be talking to that Manager because he/she has successfully made a scapegoat out of Derrick.
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  • Cameron wrote...
    Gregoire was probably drunk..again.
    November 30, 2012 6:00 pm
    She was at a charity Golf tournament a couple years ago at the Snoqualmie TPC. She asked the Golf refreshment girl for a full bottle of wine. The Girl told her they don't sell bottles for consumption on the course, Gregoire complained and the refreshment cart girl went back to the club house after filling the other golfers in her group's orders to try and get an exception for the Governor. The club complied and sent out the bottle with the cart girl. When she arrived the Governor told her see was "too late" in bringing it to her and she didn't want it any more. I assumed she had probably already had too much to drink, but maybe it's just a character flaw coupled with a superiority complex.
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  • sled_dawg wrote...
    You don't turn away the governor
    November 30, 2012 6:11 pm
    Come on dude, get the manager involved if the governor wants something not on the menu. If she asks for taco's, you get them. The publicity the establishment gets from having high profile customers is worth a ton. I'd have probably fired him too.
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  • Cash wrote...
    @sled dawg
    November 30, 2012 7:04 pm
    How exactly is the gov more important then any other paying customer? Come on, these people are elected to do a job and that is it... I am sick and tired of people thinking that a city mayor, council person, county council, county exective, governor, or any elected official as superior to the rest of us. Who gives a rip that they are the gov for crying out loud...
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  • diverphil wrote...
    Cash
    November 30, 2012 7:31 pm
    Well said! It's that type of attitude that breeds arrogance in others.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • sled_dawg wrote...
    How's it different?
    November 30, 2012 10:03 pm
    because if me or my neighbor go in to the local sea food bistro, nobody is going to come from out of the area to see what brought me us in. But if the freaking governor shows up, that local sea food shop is going to raise some eye brows...and that's something advertising on the radio or in the newspaper doesn't do. Free effective marketing is not a bad thing.
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  • Ron_Spins wrote...
    The Democrat's "get" whatever they want.
    November 30, 2012 7:11 pm
    Carte blanche.Tax hikes for the wealthy ($250,000.00?) a year AND NO CUTS IN THE ENTITLEMENT STATE.Democrat's are out to destroy America as we know it. Only the Elite get Crab Louie and the Borgeois get's to eat at Wendy's. And no I ain't HaHA!
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  • diverphil wrote...
    Anthony's
    November 30, 2012 7:29 pm
    Nothing more than a fancy "Skippers"
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • marichalman wrote...
    the grass is greener over there
    November 30, 2012 9:29 pm
    catch on with pete the cheat. life will be good.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • SickofSeattleite wrote...
    boo hoo
    December 1, 2012 7:12 am
    to much story....who cares....how about a real story...like America sinking in a sea of Obama's debt and all hell breaking loose around Israel...
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Hectic wrote...
    He deserved to be fired
    December 1, 2012 7:29 am
    The waiter never should have told her to go somewhere else, even if he knew the kitchen couldn't make it, he should have at least pretended to go ask them, or offer her something very similar; it's called customer service, which the dude is obviously not very good at.

    And to the people saying they don't like Anthony's, I say you are just as pretentious as the Gov. Anthony's is awesome.

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  • Ted Bundi wrote...
    @Hectic
    December 1, 2012 9:02 am
    Do you go into a McDonald's restaurant, look at the menu, then ask for a Crab Louie? Then be upset that you have to go down the street to another establishment where they have one on the menu? I like your comment about "pretending" to ask if it could be done. Says a lot about your morals.
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