This video of a confrontation between a customer that reportedly refused to wear a mask while at the North Foothills Drive location of Yoke's Fresh Market went viral over the weekend. Yoke's quickly acknowledged the incident and announced they were investigating further to get to the bottom of what exactly happened during and prior to the altercation.
Though Yoke's did not provide a full account of their findings they did release the following statement on Facebook and a full statement below.
Full Statement from Yoke's:
"On Friday evening there was an incident that occurred between a Yoke’s Fresh Market Associate and a guest who was not wearing a protective face mask inside our North Foothills location. At Yoke’s, we strive to create a safe environment for everyone in our stores and so this incident, as we’ve reviewed it, was disappointing.
This is a challenging time for our store associates. They’ve found themselves suddenly placed on “the front lines”—working to provide essential items for our community while being questioned on a daily basis for their role in observing the State’s mask mandate. Overwhelmingly, in even potentially volatile situations, our people get it right. In this case, the way the situation was handled does not reflect our values or standards of service and the associate involved is no longer with the company.
As disappointing and challenging as this situation is, we see an opportunity to use this as a teachable moment across all of our stores and learn from it.
For our guests, we will follow all guidelines and of course honor any medical exemptions that prevent the wearing of protective masks in our stores. We will also continue to expand alternatives like curbside pickup and online shopping. Both of those options can be found on our website at YokesFreshMarkets.com.
We look forward to continuing to serve our communities during these challenging times and hope that, together, we can grow from this situation."
(KREM.com)