An Ohio real estate agent was fired after her malicious message on the receipt at a Mexican restaurant was shared online.
NBC4i.com reports a server at Cazuelas Mexican Cantina in Columbus, Ohio, shared the receipt from a March 2 transaction. The restaurant patron wrote “Zero. You Suck.” in the tip line and added “I hope Trump deports you!!!” at the signature line.
The server, who was only identified by his first name Ricardo, shared the receipt with a co-worker who posted it on social media. The posting went viral, and the author of the hateful message tracked down as Stephanie Lovins, an agent with a local Century 21 brokerage. Lovins initially defended herself online by claiming her credit card was stolen but later deleted her social media accounts.
When confronted with the story, Century 21 issued a statement that said, “We are aware of the situation with the agent in question. Hate has no place within the Century 21 brand, and we are taking this very seriously. After investigating the situation and connecting with the respective broker, as all companies affiliated with the Century 21 brand are independently owned and operated, we can confirm that this agent is no longer affiliated with the brand.”
Fabio Oribo, head of marketing at Cazuelas, offered a theory on why Lovins left such a message.
“Apparently this lady came in and Ricardo, who is a great person, was taking care of her,” Oribo said. “He only works one day a week, which is Sunday. He has two jobs. From what I hear … she wasn’t happy about a coupon or something like that.”
Photo courtesy of Facebook
Her behavior directed at a protected class is potential evidence in case of a discrimination/Fair Housing law suit. C21 had no choice but to disassociate her. Hopefully, no other brokers will take a risk on her.
I will never understand the mentality of patronizing a restaurant/business that you know is owned/managed/employs a specific race or ethnicity, then exhibit prejudice toward them.
So, you would condone the behavior if this customer wasn’t aware that Hispanics or other minorities might be employed there or own the business? That thought pattern is as racist as the written comment itself. How about this: Keep race out of it altogether? Is that asking too much for you?
Don’t pull a muscle trying to stretch so hard. Honestly, what the hell are you even talking about?
Wrong. Her abhorrent behavior has nothing to do with discrimination in housing. Tell me did she not show a specific condo to Ricardo because of discrimination, or not tell him of all properties that would fit his requirements? Was he a real estate client by signed agreement, that she harassed? No.
This wasn’t an act of discrimination involving housing, but a conflict with a server that we don’t know enough about, and a woman who had no business stating she hopes he would be deported, unless she had confirmation that he was an illegal immigrant.
Coming from a person who has taught real estate law to hundreds of agents, I am going to give you some great advice, do not make proclamations of real estate law, and remember, by your code of ethics you are to advise all to seek legal counsel.
He should never work for someone else. He does have freedom of speech. If the waiter was terrible people get angry etc… Get your own company going if you want to do things like this.
Hopefully she is young and immature, and will change.
Obviously, not well travelled.
The action is as shallow as the disrespect towards the presidential position last night.
It is a shame to have such represent both sides of our parties.
$87.84 indicates a lot of food was ordered. So the coupon didn’t work for her. She should take it up with the manager and not on this guy holding down two jobs to make ends meet.
Shameful behavior.
Congratulations to Century 21 for standing up to hate. Unfortunately in Trump’s America he gives permission for hateful comments to be accepted especially to people of color. People feel empowered because they hear him make them all the time. It is good to know there are companies out there that will not tolerate it. We need integrity in our business.
I am sorry I don’t understand
What to do with Trump this idiot is a broker real estate
Every two years there is a mandatory continuing education
She should know better
Adios
Trump had nothing to do with this The blame is on the individual person and their actions
Deb is obviously a Trump hater regurgitating the tired story
73 million americans voted for Trump because we are racist Nazis
Get a life
Nothing, absolutely nothing supports her behavior!
Happy that this went viral to expose her and very happy to hear that C21 fired her.
This was probably fake. The Democrats are famous for fake racial shenanigans to gin up hate.
Oh please, are you a troll?
You’re so brainwashed by Trump!! You’re an idiot!!!!
Too many margaritas…
If there was a law against stupidity there would be more people in jail than out.
Your response sounds like an attempt at an excuse. Doesn’t matter, drunk or lucid, the written comments are racist. Don’t excuse the behavior-condemn it or condone it.
This woman is an embarrassment to our profession and I am SO happy she got canned! I am sad that Trump has made racism OKAY in some people’s eyes by his own moronic and uninformed example.
Having worked in restaurants for a very long time (including my father’s), she may just be a low class and stupid acting complainer.
I saw many of them in my years of work.
But, her words were racially loaded and were meant to be threatening (deportation). Would she have written that same threat if she disliked her food at an Irish Pub where the waiter was a pale skinned person?
I rather doubt it, but maybe she is a broad-spectrum hater (less a bigot and more of a hateful person in general.
Or, she may have slurped up her Mexican food with gusto and just been angling for a free margarita (via complaining) because it appears that she loved the food at $87 in Ohio. That’s a lot of burrito!
I’m surprised that great Mexican food is now found in Ohio, but I’ve not been to the midwest in a long time.
My relatives in the middle states (small towns) took us out to restaurants many decades ago, and everything was pretty terrible and deep fried, including the salad (that’s a joke but not far off).
This article is ironic after last week’s WRE article about Trump removing some rules about investigating bigotries in businesses, yet here it is again.
I think a better punishment would have been to force her to work at that restaurant for 1 year and learn to receive the attitudes of diners like her.
For anyone dumb enough to insult your waiter (or cook), consider that these people are serving you FOOD and DRINK, and they can add unsavory items to match your treatment of the servers, things like spit, a bone in a burrito, nose drippings, floor dirt, bugs, hair, unwashed plates, and much, much worse.
It is glaringly stupid to insult the people who are feeding you! That is why slow poisoning of food and drink is such a popular way to kill or sicken people in nations where large numbers of people are subjugated, or food poisoning done to an abusive family member.
If you think your server is terrible at their job (or just grumpy that day), then ask for a new server, don’t tip, or leave the restaurant. Or better yet, explain to that server why you did not tip them, but do that after you eat.
Perhaps the message is that as professionals, we should always be at our best. A good reputation takes a long time to build and one thing can destroy it. Have integrity and consistently do the right thing, even when difficult.
Good she was fired for such a dumb racist action!