Claim Jumper Has Changed Its Bracelet Policy;
Announces $10,000 Donation to Armstrong Foundation

As a food service and customer service business, Claim Jumper is concerned about safety and sanitation in our restaurants, which is why we established a policy in December 2004 prohibiting the wearing of colored rubber cause-related bracelets. These bracelets can catch on kitchen equipment and may be unsanitary, so we drafted a policy, which we felt was in the best interest of our employees and guests.

Claim Jumper Restaurants president Craig Nickoloff has said in emails responding to inquiries he has received about this matter:

“Please understand that we are prohibited from sharing the facts with you regarding the employee who was fired. Our longstanding dress policy allowed an employee to wear a single bracelet on each wrist. When “cause bracelets” became popular, some employees started wearing more than one, sometimes more than five on one arm, and some even wore bracelets that included messages many would find offensive, such as ‘anti- Bush, anti war, & sexually oriented messages.’ Obviously, our employees are free to wear whatever they want to wear when they are not at work, but once inside a Claim Jumper restaurant, they need to be focused on providing our guests with an enjoyable dining experience.”

Brian McKillip, who was terminated after he refused to remove his Livestrong bracelet, has made us aware that there can be very deep and personal emotions behind the bracelets. Brian has lost family members to cancer, and his bracelet is an important statement.

We therefore have changed our policy to allow employees to wear one cause bracelet per wrist, so long as the bracelet represents a qualified national health-related charitable organization. To maintain our safety and sanitation standards, we require that the bracelets fit snuggly and are washed along with hands each time hands are washed.

Claim Jumper’s Support of Charitable Causes

We are a family owned company. Cancer has taken members of our family, and our president, Craig Nickoloff, is himself a cancer survivor. We are currently supporting an employee who is fighting valiantly against leukemia, and we support both the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation and the City of Hope.

Claim Jumper Restaurants would like to apologize for the misunderstandings caused by this matter. We are making a $10,000 contribution to the Lance Armstrong Foundation. That is the equivalent of buying one bracelet for each of our employees, and one bracelet celebrating someone they know who has fought bravely against cancer.