Taco Bell employee fired after video shows him refusing to serve man believed to be deaf

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Jan. 4, 2019 / 5:54 PM GMT

By Minyvonne Burke

A Taco Bell employee in Ohio was fired after he was accused of refusing to serve a man believed to be deaf who was trying to use his cellphone to place an order in the drive-thru.

A video of the encounter, which happened at a Taco Bell in Kettering, was posted to Facebook on Wednesday by Becky Rosemont Burch, who said she is the man’s mother. In it, Burch’s son is seen repeatedly trying to get the Taco Bell workers’ attention by holding his cellphone up to the closed drive-thru window.

When one worker finally opened the window, he’s heard in the video telling the man: “It’s against company policy. I can’t do it.”

The worker then shook his head and closed the window before walking away.

When he returned and saw the man still holding his phone up to the drive-thru window, he is heard threatening to call 911.

“And you’re also not allowed to record me,” the worker added, pointing to a person in the passenger’s seat, who was filming the encounter.

Burch, who said her son is deaf, accused the employee of discrimination.

“He was trying to show them his order and they told him it was against company policy to take his order that way,” Burch wrote. “Really?? Pretty sure the (Americans with Disabilities Act) would say otherwise. Uneducated people.”

The video has been shared on Facebook more than 12,000 times with many comments calling out the worker. It was not clear who filmed the video or when it was shot.

Taco Bell said in a statement to NBC News that the worker, who was not identified, “no longer works for their organization” and all other employees at the Kettering location would be “retrained” on their policies.

“Taco Bell has a fundamental policy to respect all of our customers and employees, and we are committed to maintaining an environment free of discrimination or harassment,” the company said.

Burch did not immediately return NBC’s request for comment.