FILE – A Taco Bell is being sued by a former employee who claims he witnessed sex at a Christmas party in 2022.
Gene J. Puskar/Associated Press
A former Taco Bell employee is suing the restaurant chain and franchise owner after he reportedly witnessed excessive alcohol consumption and open sex at a holiday party at a Taco Bell store last year.
Alana Bechiom, a former San Pedro Taco Bell employee, filed a complaint with the California Supreme Court in Los Angeles on November 14th. She claims the company fostered a hostile work environment, retaliated against her and issued wrongful constructive dismissal. among other things, damage.
Colorado-based franchise owner Alvarado Restaurant Group and 50 other Taco Bell employees are also involved in the lawsuit.
According to the complaint, Bechiom stated that on December 18, 2022, her former supervisor invited her to a potluck-style holiday party where alcohol was served. The former employee said she believed the company had approved the party before attending and decided to bring a bowl of guacamole for the event. When Bechiom arrived, she noticed that her supervisor had covered both the store windows and security cameras with wrapping paper, the lawsuit says. The supervisor is also said to have given the employees excessive amounts of alcohol.
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“At about midnight, the plaintiff, who had been meeting outside the restaurant for a while, went back into the restaurant and saw her colleague … having sex with his wife in front of everyone at the party,” the lawsuit says. Two colleagues, including the plaintiff’s supervisor, kissed their colleague’s wife at the same time during the sexual act, the lawsuit continues.
After witnessing the sexual activity inside the restaurant, Bechiom ran outside and felt “shocked, disgusted and outraged” by what she saw, the complaint states. Shortly after, she returned to the house to retrieve her guacamole bowl that someone at the party had used to vomit. After she complained to her supervisor about the ordeal, a colleague threatened her with a fight, although no physical altercation ensued.
On December 20, 2022, Bechiom reported the incident to Taco Bell’s human resources department and later reported the incident to the franchise owner on December 21. According to the lawsuit, the supervisor and two employees, which included the employee who had sex with the law, were hired after an investigation conducted by the company. Things worsened when the plaintiff claimed she received a barrage of threats from Taco Bell employees.
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“On or about December 22, 2022, someone associated with Defendants retaliated against Plaintiff by breaking the back left window of Plaintiff’s car at her home in the middle of the night,” the lawsuit states. “The plaintiff then received numerous threats of violence from several colleagues. For example, one of the plaintiff’s colleagues texted the plaintiff: “Little girl, I want to break your face.” [I don’t give a f—k] about your car.’”
The vandalism was reported to the Los Angeles Police Department, the lawsuit says, and Bechiom reported it and the text messages to Taco Bell and ARG. Taco Bell and the franchisee planned to move the plaintiff to a new store “instead of disciplining the employees who threatened her,” the complaint says.
The lawsuit argued that Taco Bell and the franchise location created a hostile work environment that caused Bechiom to resign on December 24, 2022. The lawsuit said Taco Bell and the franchise store induced constructive dismissal by failing to take reasonable and prompt action, adding that she believes she was terminated, at least in part, “because of her failure to comply with a government or disclosed unlawful information to a law enforcement agency.”
The former Taco Bell employee claims emotional distress, humiliation and embarrassment, as well as financial losses following the incident, including loss of benefits and damage to her professional reputation. Bechiom is demanding a jury trial and financial costs for legal fees.
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SFGATE reached out to Taco Bell for comment but did not receive a response by publication time.
Originally posted 2023-11-23 05:18:34.