NAACP wants meeting with Bertucci’s

NORWALK — Both Bertucci’s employees involved in a recent incident at the Darien restaurant in which a black Norwalk man was called a racial slur have been fired, according to a Bertucci’s representative.

Brenda Penn-Williams, president of the Norwalk chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, said Thursday she thought it was an appropriate handling of the situation.

“Right now, I think they’ve done the most fair thing that they could do regarding the situation,” Penn-Williams said.

Sean Cannon, 41, of Norwalk, was fired from his job as a dough maker at Bertucci’s on Wednesday, days after an argument with a co-worker in which he alleged that he was called the N-word and physically threatened in the presence of managers. He reported the matter to the police and, saying he feared for his safety at the restaurant, missed two days of work following the exchange. He also contacted the NAACP, which claimed they were told by managers of the restaurant that Cannon would not be retaliated against for reporting the incident.

Cannon returned to work Wednesday and was promptly fired, initially setting off an impassioned response from Williams and the the NAACP.

Bertucci’s responded Wednesday night that they had fired the other man involved in the altercation, that they are planning a sensitivity training for their employees and that “Bertucci's has a zero tolerance policy for threatening and discriminatory conduct,” according to the chain’s Chief People Officer Christine Moscaritolo.

Penn-Williams said she spoke to Moscaritolo on Thursday morning and that a meeting in the coming weeks is planned between Bertucci’s representatives and members of the Norwalk NAACP chapter.

“I need to speak to them. I told her I will have a delegation of folks to meet with them and we can sit down and talk so that this will not happen in the future,” Williams said.

NAACP First Vice President Andre Williams said he is not satisfied with the handling of the situation and that the NAACP is not done with the case.

But for Cannon, who was approaching his three-year anniversary with the restaurant, the resolution rings hollow.

“It don’t mean nothing to me, because I’m still fired,” Cannon said. “They didn’t handle it how they’re supposed to handle it. It shouldn’t take for it to happen for them to have that training.”

Cannon said would like to be included in conversations between Bertucci’s and members of the community. He still feels management did not adequately address the incident when it occurred.

“They probably never have been called a (expletive) before. That was the first time I was called a (expletive). You can just feel the hate from it,” Cannon said. “I need a job, but I’m not willing to have a job that’s going to cost me my self respect.”