The headline is deceptive as written. It's an executive at an Applebee's franchisee with 47 restaurants, not the chain itself.
It never ceases to amaze me the way that people with any type of power treat and think about people with less power.
Practically, a real exec at Applebees has a bigger blast radius and can cause pain for more people than this guy. Theoretically, we should expect better behavior by people with more responsibility.
This guy is dumb and careless. He's not some evil dictator.