Burger King is backing one of its general managers who pushed back when a customer blasted him for speaking Spanish while working.
Ricardo Castillo, who is of Puerto Rican descent, was scolded by two women eating in a store in Eustis, Fla., telling him to go back to Mexico and speak English since he’s in the states.
“You’re in America, you should speak American English,” one woman says. Castillo replied, “No ma’am, I don’t.”
“Yeah, yeah, go back to Mexico if you want to keep speaking Spanish, go back to your Mexican country, your state, your country,” the woman continues.
Customer Neyzha Borrero caught the exchange on video July 6.
“The two ladies were next to the manager, and after the employee left, they told Castillo they wanted to complain.”
Castillo, she said tried to be accommodating to the women who he thought wanted to complain about a meal. However they were taking issue with him talking in Spanish and told him not to speak in public because “we are in the USA.”
“Guess what ma’am, I’m not Mexican, I’m not Mexican but you’re being very prejudiced and I want you out of my restaurant, right now,” Castillo shot back.
“People like you, so ignorant and disrespectful,” he says.
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Castillo threatened to call the cops, but one of the women said she would not leave until she finished eating. The video taken by Borrero ends with the two women leaving. They have not been identified.
A Burger King spokeswoman applauded Castillo for taking a stand, CNN reports.
“There is no place for discrimination in our restaurants,” the spokeswoman said in a statement. “We expect employees and guests to treat each other with respect. This incident took place at a franchised restaurant and the owner is looking into the matter.”
“Sadly, it’s something that happens every single day,” Borrero said.
“I have witnessed many similar situations. It’s even happened to me,” said Borrero, who is from Puerto Rico.