CLT server suspended after motivational speaker said she was asked to leave over size of order

CHARLOTTE — An employee at a Charlotte Douglas Airport restaurant has been suspended after a well-known motivational speaker said she was humiliated and told to leave over the size of her order.

Lizzie Velasquez lives with a rare condition that prevents her from gaining weight and causes her to get full very quickly. In a video she shared on social media, she says what started as a meal during a layover ended with her leaving the restaurant in tears.

Velasquez says she was traveling alone when she sat down at Midwood Smokehouse and asked for a kids menu. She said the waitress denied her request, saying the restaurant didn’t offer kids menus. Then, when Velasquez ultimately decided to order a side of mac and cheese, she says the waitress cut her off and loudly told her to leave.

She says another traveler overheard the interaction and offered to let her eat at her table.

“To have someone say, ‘You’re not allowed to eat here, and you need to leave and eat somewhere else,” was humiliating and embarrassing," Velasquez said.

She says her message isn’t about the restaurant’s ordering policies, it’s about treating people with kindness.

“I’m here to say things could have been handled very differently, quieter, with a little bit more respect,” she said.

Midwood Smokehouse agrees. In a public statement, the company took to social media saying “no guests should be turned away from a table because of the size of their order.” The restaurant says the airport team “fell short.”

While the airport location shares the same name as the Plaza Midwood eatery, it’s operated by HMS Host, a licensed concession partner.

A spokesperson from the company told Channel 9’s Lauren Crawford the restaurant has suspended the employee and opened an investigation into the incident. HMS Host says it has also contacted Velasquez directly to apologize.

“We regret how our team member treated our guest,” the spokesperson said. “This interaction does not reflect our standards, values, and goal to ensure that all customers are treated with dignity and respect.”

Midwood Smokehouse says it’s asked HMS Host to retrain the airport team and is using the incident as a learning moment with its own restaurants.

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