Activists gathered around at the outside of a southern Ontario Tim Hortons outlet to protest discrimination against a lesbian couple by the restaurant’s manager on Thursday. Riley Duckworth said she was told and menaced to leave the restaurant in Blenheim, Ont. in September when she was kissing with her girlfriend Patricia Pattenden in public. The incident made some people furious in Canada and members from Occupy Timmies (a Facebook group supports LGBT Rights). The customer who stated his discomfort to the manager said that he did not ask the manager to let the couple leave the restaurant, and the manager then apologized for his misunderstanding.
The event provokes disagreement intensively in Canada, because it involves the issue of business ethics. As a famous public restaurant in Canada, Tim Hortons has a high reputation and popularity among patrons; however, the manager’s behavior towards its customer actually causes degradation of its own images. The success of a company not only includes its managerial system, but also its business ethics. The managerial system is a surface step for every company to operate, but the non-economic business ethics is a deeper issue which can help a company to lead the market and maximize profits.