A manager of a Subway restaurant in Birmingham, Ala. has found herself jobless after a viral video of her hurling racial slurs at a Black man during a confrontation at her store.
A 2-minute clip of the incident, posted by Antuan Clark on Facebook, shows April Epperson repeatably shouting at Clark, demanding that he leave the store. According to Fox 6 News, Clark was there to see his sister, who had started her first day at the sandwich shop.
“She’s in training and while she’s here she doesn’t need a distraction,” Epperson told the station. “I’m going to need them to get away from the property or step off the property while she’s at work.”
Their in-store argument quickly escalates, leading to Clark and another woman being shoved out of the restaurant’s front door. That’s when Epperson pops her head out and calls Clark the N-word.
Speaking to the station, the ousted manager claimed she felt threatened at the time and accused Clark of punching her in the face.
“I pushed him out the door because that was the only thing I knew to do,” she said. “I felt like I was in danger. I pushed him out the door. He punches me in my face and as soon as I shut the door, the only thing that came out of my mouth was, ‘N—-r,’ and I’m sorry.
“It popped out of my mouth … it could’ve been a Mexican standing there and that’s what a Mexican would’ve got called,” Epperson added. “A white person would have got called that too.”
In the video, the camera briefly goes black as Epperson smacks the phone out of Clark’s hand. A scuffle is heard in the background and Epperson yells, “get your hands off me!”
Epperson called the incident a “slip up,” insisting she isn’t a racist because she has Black family members.
“I’m sorry for it,” she said. “I’m taking my punishment and I’m walking away from it.”
In a statement, Subway confirmed it parted ways with Epperson, saying her actions don’t reflect its core values.
Watch video of the incident below.
