Florida Taco Bell Employee Won’t Serve Woman Because She Doesn’t Speak Spanish

Taco Bell says the employee was fired

The Florida Taco Bell worker who didn’t serve a woman because she didn’t speak Spanish, which went viral in a video, was fired, the company confirmed in several media reports.

In the video, shot in Hialeah, Alexandria Montgomery and the employee, who said her name was Luisa, engaged in an argument for several minutes before Montgomery drove away.

“I’m trying to order and she tell me I can’t order because she don’t speak English. Who’s wrong? What did I do wrong?” she said in the video. Luisa then tells her that no one in the store speaks English.

“That doesn’t mean nothing, ‘Because this is Hialeah,’” Montgomery said. “This is America!”

The employee slammed the window in Montgomery’s face and threatened to call the police, according to the Orlando Sentinel.

“I actually felt like I wasn’t wanted there,” Montgomery, who is black, was quoted as saying by the paper. “Like, you don’t speak Spanish so I’m not going to serve you.”

The Sentinel reported that 89 percent of residents of Hialeah, located in Miami-Dade County, consider Spanish their first or second language.

Montgomery received a $100 gift card for her troubles from Taco Bell. “This does not meet our customer experience expectations. We have worked quickly to resolve with the customer to ensure this doesn’t happen again. The individual no longer works for the brand,” Taco Bell wrote to CBS News.

“I understand everyone in Hialeah doesn’t speak English and that’s fine, but if she was willing to work with me I think the outcome would have been different,” Montgomery said.

“It really made me feel like I don’t belong here and I grew up here my whole life,” she told CBS after the incident. “I want this to get out so people can know and be aware of situations like this so it does not happen again,” Montgomery said.

The Florida Taco Bell worker who didn’t serve a woman because she didn’t speak Spanish, which went viral in a video, was fired. Alexandria Montgomery via Storyful

Feedback

Some people agreed with Montgomery’s sentiment, while others panned her as racist.

“Yes, Luisa knows English she didn’t want to take your order because she is racist. English is America’s Language and we, the Spanish people, must learn your language once we decide to live in this country. I am more than happy that her contract was canceled. She must learn how to treat human beings no matter skin color. She clearly stated: ‘I understand but I don’t want,’” wrote Facebook user Elda Yanez.

“Racist???? She called you ‘my darling’ and ‘dear’ all the time. The manager is the one responsible for not having a bilingual staff in the store. Most immigrants come to this country without knowledge of the language. This lady was working late at Taco Bell and couldn’t find any way to communicate with you. Once again, it’s the manager’s fault,” said Facebook user Carlos Alvarez Dieguez.