A TikTok video shot by an employee inside a Taco Bell in Lexington, Virginia, on Friday has gone viral with close to 750,000 views on the platform.
The video, shared by @caileneasely, shows the restaurant's manager making racist remarks towards Black employees.
"Marcellus is sweeping the floor because he is Black. Derrick is mopping the floor because he is Black," the manager is heard saying in the video.
Employee Who Recorded the Video Fired After the Incident
Easely noted that the manager, identified as Stephanie, made the racist remarks after the employee questioned why he was always assigned to sweeping and mopping duties inside the restaurant.
The employee who took the video told 10 News that he was fired after the exchange. He said he was sent home after the video was taken and told not to come back the next day as scheduled.
"She told me I could leave, I said 'I'm not leaving until 11.' That's my usual time that my general manager put on there," the employee said. "She said, 'Well I don't need you.' So we had words back and forth about me leaving, about me not coming in tomorrow, about how she didn't need me."
Taco Bell Fires Manager, Reinstates Employee's Job
Taco Bell later released a statement saying the manager was no longer employed at the restaurant.
"We take this seriously. Our franchisee who owns and operates this location immediately addressed the incident in line with their policies and has informed us that the person seen in the video is no longer working for them," the statement read.
As far as the employee's employment is concerned, he said that he has since been offered his job back.
"If my video wasn't out there, if I didn't have a video and it was just hearsay stuff, I don't think nothing would have happened," the employee, who chose to remain anonymous said. "I think I still would have been out of a job, and they would still be working there, happily ever after."
