Pieology Employee Fired After Writing Anti-Police Profanity On Cops' Lunch Receipt

TORRANCE (CBSLA) — Two Torrance police officers went to Pieology for lunch last Thursday. They left the pizza chain with a bad taste in their mouths - and not because of the food.

An employee wrote anti-police profanity on their receipt, which was then shared on social media by the wife of one of the officers and eventually went viral.

"I want to share this with everyone to show the unprovoked hatred that my husband and his partners deal with everyday. This is not the type of business that I want to see in the city where I live," Leigh Ann wrote on Facebook. "My husband's partner was just trying to get a quick bite to eat in the middle of a busy shift and this is what he received. Needless to say we will never eat at Pieology ever again. I hope you all will help support our police and share this both near and far. It is NOT ok to treat our officers like this."

Samantha Wilk's mother is a 30-year-veteran with the Torrance Police Department. "The fact that we're attacking the people that protect us is just ridiculous," she said.

CBS2's Adrianna Weingold spoke with the vice president of human resources at Pieology. She said they were mortified and only learned about the receipt Monday morning.

Pieology released this statement: "The actions of this employee do not in any way reflect the thoughts of Pieology and we are taking swift and serious action to rectify the situation, including terminating the offending employee."

Torrance police said they were upset by the words but more concerned about why someone would feel that way about their department.

"We have a community that really supports law enforcement, and we support our community. So the first thing we thought of was what happened and how can we be better?" Sgt. Ronald Harris of Torrance Police Department said.

Pieology said it immediately fired the female employee who wrote the slur on the receipt and apologized to the officers.

The pizzeria said it will offer a 50 percent discount to uniformed service members.