Hot-headed employees at a Philadelphia Taco Bell have been fired after they allegedly beat up a couple of customers who were complaining about their wait time.
Bryan Reese told local press that he and his girlfriend were assaulted by three employees at the Center City location after they complained that they had waited 45 minutes for an order of burritos, tacos, and nachos.
Reese, 38, said the employees didn’t seem too busy at the time he lodged the complaint, and were telling other impatient customers that they were swamped with Grubhub orders that needed to be taken care of first.
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Three of the employees, however, could apparently not take any more criticism: they allegedly jumped over the counter, followed Reese outside, and proceeded to attack him and his girlfriend.
The alleged victim recalled to WPVI:
“I backed out of the store. They continued to follow me. They put me on the ground, and I don’t really remember too much else. Except for when I got up, my girlfriend was on the ground being beat, too. She wasn’t even in the store at the time.”
One of Reese’s friends who was also at the restaurant started recording the brawl as Reese fled outside. The video (below) shows one worker holding the customer in a headlock as another seemingly pummels his torso.
Whoa.
According to the friend, the initial attack on Reese prompted his girlfriend to try to stop the attack — leading another employee to assault her as well. Both Reese and his girlfriend were hurt during the assault and have accused police of being slow to address the incident.
Taco Bell was slow to respond, as well. After giving the company a week to respond, to no avail, Reese shared footage of the attack to Twitter on Tuesday. Eventually, Taco Bell gave him a $20 gift card for his troubles… and wounds.
A spokesperson for Taco Bell said in a statement that the workers involved are no longer with the company, but it’s unclear how many employees were fired. The statement read:
“We’re shocked and disappointed to see this situation; we and our franchisees do not tolerate this behavior. The franchisee who owns and operates this location is retraining its staff, and all team members involved have been terminated.”
Philadelphia Police are investigating.
With Grubhub, Postmates, etc. taking over, it seems like popular restaurants should really increase staff to deal with all the extra orders. Taco Bell is everyone’s guilty pleasure, but 45 minutes?? Really?? We thought it was insulting enough when they discontinued Lava Sauce.
[Image via CBS Philly]