Pizza chain Papa John's has apologised after an employee typed a racial slur on a receipt to a customer at one of its New York City branches.

Customer Minhee Cho posted a message on Twitter along with an image of the receipt from a Manhattan location describing her as "lady chinky eyes".

Several hours later, after the message had gone viral, the Louisville, Kentucky-based company formally apologised on its Facebook and Twitter pages for Ms Cho's experience and said the employee had been dismissed.

Spokeswoman Tish Muddon told the Louisville Courier-Journal that the company was attempting to reach Ms Cho to apologise personally.

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