Rain Varela
Staff Writer
Openly gay 16-year-old, Tyler Brandt, is accusing his former Manager at Taco John’s for forcing him to wear a name tag labelled ‘Gaytard’ in front of customers.
The Restaurant Manager, John Scott has denied thes claims. He says that Brandt chose the nickname as a joke. And was not in any way coerced into wearing the name tag. However, he did not address why a gay teenager would voluntarily open himself up to ridicule.
Officials at Taco John International Inc. have said that the company does not tolerate any form of harassment, but they will not be conducting an investigation since franchise locations are independently owned and operated.
In an interview with Keloland, Brandt narrated his ordeal with his former manager:
I’ve been very vulnerable and I’ve been allowing him (The Restaurant Manager) to say things to me that shouldn’t be said, and after a while I was just worried about being terminated from my position at Taco John’s.
Brandt then talked about the nametag and how it came about;
He pulled me into the office and gave me a name tag that read ‘Gaytard’ on it and asked me to wear it. So, I put it on because I didn’t want to upset him and I felt that if I did do anything to upset him, it would cause me to lose my job because he’d be looking for ways to fire me.
Brandt then said that he tried to take off the name tag several times, but the manager forced him to wear it in front of customers.
I would always stay behind the till so they couldn’t see the name tag, I didn’t want them to see it, but even though they couldn’t see it, he would still call me by the name across the store and customers would notice.
This prompted him to consult with his partner and close friends, and made the decision to leave the next day. He kept the name tag as evidence.
Brandt is now in search of a lawyer to pursue legal action. “I don’t think that any person has to put up with what has been going on. I don’t think that anybody should have to put up with any kind of discrimination. It’s not fair,” Brandt said.
We happen to agree with him.
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