Georgia woman says she was fired for Moana, marijuana cake design mix-up

MILLEDGEVILLE, Ga. — It should be a good thing to go viral on social media for creating something that brings laughter to the masses.

But for Cassandra Walker, it cost her a job.

Walker designed the now infamous Moana/marijuana cake everyone is talking about and sharing on the internet.

Kensli Davis’ mom ordered her a birthday cake, telling the Dairy Queen in Milledgeville she wanted a “Moana”-themed cake for her daughter’s 25th birthday.

When she picked it up, however, there was no Polynesian princess. Instead there was a pot leaf and an apparently high My Little Pony smoking a marijuana cigarette.

Davis posted a photo of the cake on Facebook, and it now has more than 13,000 reactions and 14,000 shares.

"It was hilarious to me," Davis said.

But Dairy Queen didn’t join in on the fun. And now, neither is Walker.

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Walker said the mix-up happened because a fellow Dairy Queen employee took the order and told Walker to make a marijuana-themed birthday cake. Fox News reported that employee was Walker's manager. Walker told a local television station she questioned the order, but was told to make the cake.

"The manager stood behind me while I pulled the images off the internet," Walker told USA Today. "She walked by as I decorated the cake. As I boxed the cake up, she was the one who walked it up to the front."

After the cake went viral, Walker said, she was fired. She told the news station she received separation papers on her birthday.

"It was a mistake — it was a cake! I thought they would have said, 'It's a learning lesson and we'll keep you.' No, just a boot out the door," Walker said.

In the USA Today interview, Walker said: "It's not funny to me. This is back-to-school time. I have two little girls here. I have a car that needs fixing. It's not funny to me."

According to Walker, one of the Dairy Queen managers contacted her Thursday and offered to give her job back. Walker turned them down, she said, because it took too long for them to do the right thing.

Walker told the news station she is spending time with her daughters, ages 9 and 14, since being fired.

Dairy Queen issued the following statement:

"This was a simple misunderstanding from the beginning. Our cake decorator designed a cake based on what she thought she heard the customer order. When the customer picked it up and said it was not what she ordered, we immediately apologized for the error and offered to redesign it the way she originally intended. The customer said it was fine, paid for the cake and left."

This article was written by Nancy Clanton, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Cox Media Group