A Yum! Brands Employee at Taco Bell in Louisiana is Dismissed Because He is Gay
The LGBT civil rights group Connecting Rainbows is calling for a world-wide boycott of Yum! Brands restaurants, which includes KFC, Pizza Hut, and Taco Bell.
Jason Ray Smith, a gay employee of Taco Bell restaurant in Bossier City, Louisiana, was dismissed from work because he was honest about his sexual orientation on his Facebook profile and on his Connecting Rainbows profile.
Members of Connecting Rainbows have started an online petition on Change.org, demanding that Taco Bell institute cultural competency training.
Mr. Smith was told he needed to be taken out to the corn field and have the gay beaten out of him. When he reported it, Mr. Smith was harassed and intimidated by Taco Bell management.
Connecting Rainbows, in turn, demands that :
- Yum! Brands restaurants apologize to Mr. Smith and the LGBT community ;
- rehire Mr. Smith and provide a hostile-free work environment, or compensate Mr. Smith for his loss of income and other damages ; and
- provide diversity and cultural competency training to every employee -- worldwide !
Mr. Smith said that Taco Bell conditioned his rehiring on Mr. Smith deleting his Facebook account and deleting the entire Connecting Rainbows website, the former which Mr. Smith has said he will NOT do, and the latter over which Mr. Smith has no control. Sign our petition demanding that Taco Bell follow through on its commitment to diversity.
