NORTH FORT MYERS, Fla., -- A racist rant that now has nearly 700,000 views and counting, shows one co-worker screaming the N-word at her former colleague, Orlando Ortega. Since then, Ortega hasn't been able to find work.
"Not at the moment. No one will hire me in Southwest Florida," said Ortega.
Ortega filmed this video after he quit as a bartender at Cactus Jack's restaurant in North Fort Myers. He says it began when the owner of the restaurant used a racial slur towards him.
The owners claim that Ortega had punched the woman in the video, Eileen Marcinkowski, prior to the argument escalating. They say they gave her a one-week suspension to gather all the details of the incident, but she hasn't showed up to work since it happened two weeks ago.
They gave this statement to Fox 4:
“We weren’t going to let her back after that. Even though it was off the clock and off the premises, it’s still classic gross misconduct and we don’t condone that. Is it right to call someone a name after they’ve been punched in the face? No. Is it right to punch someone in the face? Not really.”
Ortega says he's interviewed at eight restaurants and believes none will hire him due to the claims of assault made by the restaurant. A claim he denies.
“It’s just making me feel as if, you know, her saying I hit her just led to me not having employment," explained Ortega. "I didn't touch her."
Ortega says he plans on filing a discriminatory lawsuit against Cactus Jack.
“I’m not just going to let it go," he said. “If I have to be the guinea pig for it, then hey whatever, but we’re gonna get it out there and we’re going to show that it actually happens every day to regular people.”
