US: A South Dakota teenager says he was made to wear a nametag which said ‘gaytard’ while working at a fast food restaurant. Sixteen-year-old Tyler Brandt says he’d already had trouble with bullying from his manager at Taco John’s, before he called him to his office saying he had a special nametag for him to wear. “He pulled me into the office and gave me a nametag that read ‘Gaytard’ on it and asked me to wear it,” the Yankton teenager has told South Dakota TV station KELO. “So, I put it on because I didn’t want to upset him and I felt that if I did do anything to upset him, it would cause me to lose my job because he’d be looking for ways to fire me.” When he tried to take it off, he says his manager forced him to put it back on in front of customers, and took to calling him ‘Gaylord’. He eventually quit. Taco John’s CEO Jeff Linville says such discrimination is deplorable and workplace harassment will not be tolerated.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Friday, 27th June 2014 - 9:58am