A Florida Taco Bell employee was fired last month for refusing to serve a non-Spanish speaking customer. In a video posted to Facebook, English-speaking Alexandria Montgomery argues with a drive-through worker as she tries to get the woman to take her order. The employee was clearly not “thinking outside the bun” when she replied to Montgomery, “No hablo ingles” (“I don’t speak English”).
In the video, you can see the unnamed employee try to indicate that Montgomery is holding up the line and then begin to shut the window on her. When the employee then threatens to call the police if Montgomery doesn’t leave, saying in Spanish, “This is Hialeah,” (an area of Miami-Dade County) Montgomery retorts, “This is America.”
According to the Miami Herald, Hialeah has the largest Hispanic population of any city in the United States. The 2010 census reported that 93.6% of the town’s residents identify as Hispanic or Latino and less than 7% speak English only.
A representative for Taco Bell told El Nuevo Herald that the incident, “does not meet our customer service expectations.” Montgomery was never able to place her order or get food from Taco Bell that night. “We have worked quickly to resolve with the customer to ensure this doesn’t happen again,” he added.
Montgomery was offered a $100 gift card to the chain as compensation for the ordeal. “A gift card is not gonna just solve the problem, it’s not gonna give me justice,” she complained to NBC6. “Don’t try to like sweep it under the rug. I want this to get out so people can know and be aware of situations like this so it does not happen again.”
NBC6
What do you think about this story? Is an employee ever justified in refusing a customer based on language? Did Montgomery receive fair compensation? Let us know in the comments down below!