More than two years after a gay man and a transgender woman were insulted by a South Beach Burger King employee who used a gay slur and then pepper-sprayed by a security guard, lawyers for the two customers are still arguing with attorneys for the fast-food chain about a crucial element of what happened that night — whether the incident qualifies as a hate crime.
On October 13, 2018, Raymond Ortega and Toni Llerena say, an employee at the BK Whopper Bar called them "fucking faggots" after a short dispute about the seats they'd taken in a section that was being closed for cleaning. Ortega alleges that when he complained to a security guard — asking him how he would feel if the slur was directed at his son — the guard grew enraged and deployed his pepper spray, macing both Ortega and Llerena. The security guard then tussled with Ortega both inside and outside the restaurant, leaving him with a fractured jaw, a busted ear, and about $14,000 in medical bills, Ortega later testified. The two friends filed a lawsuit in February of 2019, alleging multiple counts of negligence by Burger King and battery by the contracted security guard.