Update 9:58pm CT, Jan. 19: When reached for comment, Taco Bell told the Daily Dot in a statement that Wells “worked for a franchise location and the franchisee has informed us that the accusations made are not accurate and that she was instead terminated for violation of their policies and procedures.”
A sex worker took on a job at Taco Bell so that she could pay her bills during the pandemic. She says she was fired after a customer recognized her from her adult work and complained.
Lonna Wells, 33, told the Daily Beast in an exclusive interview that she started working at a Taco Bell in Newport, Arkansas, to continue providing for her family after the pandemic put a pause on the adult film industry.
“I went in when I didn’t even have to go in, and I would work a nine-hour shift with no lunch breaks—because in Arkansas, if you can eat on the job, they don’t have to give you lunch breaks,” Wells told the Daily Beast. “I was working hard.”
Wells claimed she was transparent about her adult work during the job interview process and that a manager assured her it was not “going to cause any problems.”
“Whatever you do in your spare time is your business,” Wells recalled the manager saying.
But less than a week into her new job, Wells said she was fired. A “God-fearing” customer allegedly took issue with Wells doing internet porn and lodged an official complaint about her. Wells said the fast-food chain fired her at the customer’s behest 30 minutes before she was supposed to start her shift.
‘They couldn’t have even given me a heads-up, or waited until I got there to say something,” she told the Daily Beast. “I just started bawling. I don’t know if it was because I was upset, or I was ticked, or a little bit of both.”
The Daily Beast reports that it corroborated her claim with her husband and an anonymous employee. It also reviewed her pay stubs to confirm she was an employee at the establishment.
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H/T Daily Mail