Woman "felt humiliated" by McDonald's manager row
Owen Sennitt/BBCA woman's complaint about missing items from her order at a McDonald's drive-thru ended in staff setting off an emergency alarm and alerting the police.
Makala Zulu visited a restaurant in Mousehold Lane, in Sprowston, Norwich, with her children and attempted to resolve problems with her order when the situation escalated.
She says she feels "humiliated" by the experience and questions whether she was being stereotyped as an "aggressive black woman" by a staff member.
But McDonald's said it "strongly refutes" Zulu's version of events and "any suggestion of unacceptable or discriminatory behaviour by its employees".
Zulu, who lives in Norwich and works as an NHS mental health practitioner, visited the franchise on 3 May and complained to staff after noticing multiple issues with her order, including a missing drink and burger.
Initially a manager offered to provide the missing items and give her a refund but another manager retracted the offer and said she could either get the missing burger or a refund.
Zulu says she became frustrated and felt dismissed.
"She didn't take time to listen to my story or understand what the frustration was or just take time to apologise," she added.
The situation escalated and Zulu claims her receipt was thrown to the floor by the manager, who accused her of being aggressive.
Shortly after, an emergency alarm was set off and the police were alerted but no officers attended.
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Zulu left McDonald's after this but said the experience left her feeling "traumatised and deeply humiliated".
The 38-year-old questions whether prejudices and stereotypes may have led to her being treated differently.
"To be called aggressive was very unkind because that is exactly the connotation that is always accused when a black person wants to express their frustrations," she said.
Owen Sennitt/BBCThe McDonald's restaurant in Mousehold Lane has been open for less than a year, with the company celebrating its launch in October 2025.
The company refutes Zulu's claims entirely.
A spokesperson said: "The safety and security of our people and our customers is always our top priority, and we have a zero-tolerance approach to any form of threatening, aggressive or anti-social behaviour in our restaurants.
"We take allegations of this nature extremely seriously, the restaurant team has conducted a thorough review of the incident and strongly refutes any suggestion of unacceptable or discriminatory behaviour by its employees."
Norfolk Police confirmed that it had been called by a commercial premises on that day due to a dispute over missing food.
Zulu, who sits on a police panel that discusses policing of black communities and other minority groups, said she has decided to speak up after suffering repeated instances of racism in Norfolk.
"I used to ignore it and not speak up about it," she said.
"The experience I've had in Norfolk has been extremely negative and that has built my resilience. As a black woman who's found her value in society, I can challenge situations now instead of being intimidated."
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