New York ice cream store manager says he was fired for failing to attend customer’s cough without a mask

A manager at an ice cream store in New York said his employer recently fired him for failing to serve a customer who was not wearing a mask, despite a state mandate issued months ago that required all residents to wear toppings in public in between. of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Thomas DeSarle, who previously worked at a Carvel ice cream parlor on Long Island, told the local WABC station in an interview this week that he was fired earlier this month after the incident with the customer.

DeSarle told the station that he had seen the customer in question coughing in the front of the store while working.

“He was standing there coughing in his hand. And again, coughing so as not to clear his throat. I was coughing hard, like a wet cough, ”DeSarle recalled.

“I said, ‘Sir, do you have a mask?’ They didn’t answer me. I said, ‘Sir, can I get you a mask?’ All he did was keep looking at the board, trying to sort, “he told the station.

Moments later, DeSarle told the station that the customer came to him to place an order. But when he started taking out his money to pay, DeSarle said the customer tried to give him a sweaty bill, which he would not accept.

DeSarle later told the station that his employer scolded him for refusing to serve the client.

“They told me that if it was too scary to work here no more, too scary to work here, you no longer have to work here. And I was fired from my job, ”he said.

DeSarle is now considering taking legal action.

An attorney representing DeSarle, Jon Bell, told the station that they are looking to “file a complaint on the state’s website with Cuomo,” referring to the New York governor. Andrew CuomoAndrew Cuomo New York coronavirus hospitalizations drop to lowest since early March The Hill’s Report 12:30 pm – Presented by Facebook – Public debate over facial masks increases Twitter says 130 accounts targeted in this week’s cyber attack MORE (D), who first issued the statewide mask mandate in April, or said they “may file a state action with a whistleblower violation.”

“Being fired for following the rules and for following state guidelines doesn’t seem right, doesn’t seem right. It doesn’t seem right,” DeSarle told the station.