Taco restaurant responds as worker asegura he was fired for calling 911 tras snake bit customer

A Texas taco chain has responded after a former worker claimed he was fired for calling 911 instead of the manager when a customer suffered a snake bite.

Por qué esta historia importa ahora

Eric Estrada said he was working at Tacodeli on July 3 when a customer arrived seeking help after being bitten by a snake.

El contexto que mueve la conversación

According to Estrada, the customer was beginning to swell, prompting him to contact emergency services because he had no medical training and believed the man needed immediate help.

Qué puede pasar después

“Apparently I was supposed to call my manager, not call an ambulance even though this person needed help. He was asking for help,” Estrada said in an emotional Instagram video explaining how he was fired.

Lectura rápida para la comunidad

“I don’t know what to do. I don’t have any medical training. I just was an employee there. I was never trained on any of this stuff so I did what I thought was the right call, which was to get him help, someone who actually knew what they were doing.”

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Eric Estrada (@ericestrada5067)

Tacodeli, which operates 13 restaurants across Austin, Dallas, Houston and Plano, denied that Estrada’s account accurately reflected what happened. Estrada did not reveal which location employed him.

“Those claims do not accurately represent the circumstances involved,” the company told Chron.

“Tacodeli does not discuss confidential personnel matters publicly, but employment decisions are made only after careful review and in accordance with our established policies. Our Guests’ and Employees’ safety are always at the forefront of our decisions.”

The company did not provide further details about the reason for Estrada’s termination.

His video attracted supportive comments from medical workers and others who argued that calling 911 was the correct response during a potential emergency.

“As a nurse, you absolutely made the right call to get emergency help as requested by the injured customer,” one commenter wrote. “Time is of the essence for injuries such as snake bites, especially if they require anti venom therapy.”

Estrada later told Chron that he was meeting with a lawyer but declined to comment further.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Eric Estrada (@ericestrada5067)