LEXINGTON, Va. – A video on TikTok that contained video footage from inside the Taco Bell in Lexington on Friday has gone viral with more than 730,000 views.
The viral TikTok shows a Taco Bell manager making racist remarks towards an employee.
In the video, the manager is heard saying, “[Employee’s name] is sweeping the floor because he is Black. [Another employee’s name] is mopping the floor because he is Black.”
The employee who took the video told 10 News that he was fired after the exchange. He also asked 10 News to remain anonymous, so for the rest of this story, he’ll be referred to as Linard.
“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,” said Linard. “I think I still would have been out of a job, and they would still be working there, happily ever after.”
Linard said that 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,” Linard 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.”
Since the TikTok went viral, Linard said his family has received death threats.
“I also had a threatening message from a number saying they were going to kill me and my kids. And they hoped I kept the ‘same energy’ when I was ‘holding my kids’ lifeless bodies.’”
The Lexington Taco Bell declined to comment on the video, but corporate released a statement saying:
As for Linard’s employment, he said that he has since been offered his job back.
Linard called the local police about the death threats he has received. According to authorities, they are investigating.