Evelyn Marie Reid was recently fired from her job as a waitress at a popular Ohio restaurant. Unluckily for the owner of that restaurant, Reid caught some of his parting words on video.
According to Reid, the owner of Terry’s Turf Club fired her because she didn’t smile enough. She says that when she complained as she was collecting her personal effects, her now-former boss said, “I’m gonna miss that ass.” At that point, Reid started to film their encounter.
In video posted to Facebook, Reid presses her former boss for some sort of an explanation. He initially says that he has a headache and then repeatedly tells her to talk to his attorneys.
Reid soldiers on, telling Carter that he has to give her some sort of an explanation under the law. Owner Terry Carter responds, with a grin, “I just broke the law? Sue me.”
Later on, Reid asks, “Was my work ethic not good enough? Was there anything you asked me to do today that I didn’t do?” Carter then says:
Keep your legs open.
Reid repeats his words back to him. “Keep my legs open?” Carter acts surprised and says, “I didn’t say that.” Reid insists, “You did. I just got it on camera. Thank you, Terry. Thank you for being such a great boss. Being sexist and ignorant. And who’s your attorney?”
Carter pauses for a second and then responds, “I forgot that, too.” Reid isn’t having it and says, “You forgot that, too? Hmm.” The two go back-and-forth for awhile after that, Reid requesting some reason behind the firing and Carter defiantly saying that he doesn’t have to give any kind of reasons for letting her go.
In comments to the local Fox affiliate, Reid said:
Thank god I have proof, otherwise no one would have believed me. Because in this day and age, it’s just if you say ‘Oh, this person did this to me,’ then I’m trying to ruin their life. I had like a cold sweat. I was alone with an old white guy who was sexually harassing me.
And, according to a Cincinnati-area labor attorney, Carter’s sexually-themed comments were likely a violation of the law. The attorney Donyetta Bailey offered her thoughts to Local12.
“I can’t believe he was dumb enough to say this on film. It’s horrific, but in this day and age, I feel like this is what we’ve come to,” Bailey said. “People are getting more emboldened because they feel like there isn’t any repercussions for their action.”
Bailey also counseled Reid as to what she should do next. She said:
If I were her, I would contact a lawyer and go to the [Equal Employment Opportunity Commission] and file a charge for sexual harassment and wrongful termination. In this case, you have more than just circumstantial evidence. To me, I would argue that this is direct. You’re firing me and you can’t give me a concrete reason as to why and then you make a comment like ‘keep my legs open.’
In response to the furor over Carter’s remarks, Yelp closed down the comments section on the restaurant’s page, noting, “This business recently made waves in the news, which often means people come to this page to post their views on the news. While we don’t take a stand one way or the other when it comes to this news event, we work to verify that the content you see here reflects personal consumer experiences with the business rather than the news itself. As a result, we’ve temporarily disabled the posting of content to this page.”
In statements to Local12, Carter and his attorneys declined to comment but said they may do so at a later time. (
[image via screengrab]
Follow Colin Kalmbacher on Twitter: @colinkalmbacher
Have a tip we should know? [email protected]
