I’ll take vomit with my side of guac, please. A California Taco Bell Christmas party descended into chaos and included three-way sex romps between staff members and vomiting in a guacamole bowl.
Alana Bechiom filed a lawsuit against Taco Bell and a Colorado-based franchise owner after alleging that she was forced to quit her job as a cashier for trying to report the incident to human resources. Bechiom said in her complaint that she, her sister, and her sister’s significant other attended a Christmas party at the Taco Bell location in San Pedro, California, on December 18, 2022.
She was invited to the party by her supervisor, Lidia Ruiz. After arriving at the party, she “discovered that Ruiz covered the windows of the restaurant with wrapping paper” and “also covered the cameras for the lobby in the inside of the restaurant.”
At around midnight, Bechiom, who had been socializing outside the restaurant, “walked back into the restaurant” and witnessed a co-worker “having sex with his wife in front of everyone at the party.” The co-worker’s wife was “bent over” and “kissing both Ruiz and another co-worker,” the complaint alleged.
“Shocked” and “disgusted” by the matter, Bechiom made the decision to leave. She had brought a bowl of guacamole to the party and when she went to retrieve the bowl, she saw Ruiz and another co-worker throwing up in it.
Days after the incident occurred, Bechiom reported the incident to human resources, as well as to Alvarado Restaurant Group, the Colorado-based franchisee that owns and operates the San Pedro, California, location.
The company completed an investigation and Ruiz, along with the other co-workers involved in the alleged sex romp, were fired. After their termination, Bechiom allegedly started to receive threatening text messages and someone vandalizing her car.
Bechiom reported the incidents to the Los Angeles Police Department, as well as to her superiors at Taco Bell, who “did nothing about these threats and instead told [her] that they were transferring her to a new location rather than disciplining the employees who threatened her.”
Two days after the incident, Bechiom “felt so overcome with significant stress, physical and mental illness and anxiety from the hostile work environment” that “she had no other choice but to inform” her bosses that she was quitting, the complaint alleged.
It’s unclear as to how much Bechiom is seeking in damages.