Want to work in Florida? Not if you’re gay!
That’s the lesson that TikTok influencer Justin Olmo recently discovered the hard way after he was allegedly fired from his job at Sioux City Steakhouse back in August for treating his boyfriend to a meal during his break.
During his second shift at the New Port Richey eatery, Olmo said he and his S.O. were celebrating his new gig when his manager approached them with a series of questions.
“My manager comes up to me and is like, ‘oh who is this? ‘And I was like 'oh this is my boyfriend,’” he recalled, a response he said elicited a cold “Oh, okay.” from his boss.
@justin.olmo Love living in Florida :/ #lgbt #gay #fyp #florida ♬ original sound - Justin Olmo
Though he continued the rest of his shift as usual, he had trouble contacting the restaurant for his schedule.
“No one answers,” he said. “They just said ‘oh call back later, call back tomorrow.’”
After several days of calling to no avail, Olmo decided to head into the restaurant himself, where another manager clued him into the real reason behind their apparent evasiveness.
“So I go in and a manager comes to me and she says ‘oh, we’re so sorry but we’re not that type of establishment’” he remembered. “I was like ‘what are you talking about?’ and she’s like, ‘We’re sorry, This just really isn’t a good fit for you or us.’”
Though Olmo headed back to TikTok a few days later claiming the business said that their firing was due to him no call no show-ing to a football game — “I don’t understand how I can no call no show when I called every day after my second shift,” he continued — he said he wasn’t too surprised with this course of action.
@justin.olmo Update on the situation #greenscreen #gay #lgbt #florida #fyp ♬ original sound - Justin Olmo
“They’re essentially doubling down and covering up for this manager who blatantly fired me because of her own personal views,” he explained. “It’s pretty sad that this still happens but it’s to be expected, especially in Florida at this time.”
While it may technically be legal to fire someone for their sexual orientation in the Sunshine State, we can only hope Sioux City lands the only kind of justice you can nab in Ron DeSantis’ Florida — a ton of one-star Yelp reviews.
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