For days, there has been much outrage on the blogosphere about a couple who refused to give a lesbian waitress a tip because they refused to support her “lifestyle.” Dayna Morales, an ex-Marine and server at Gallop Asian Bistro in Bridgewater, N.J., produced a receipt that said “I’m sorry but I cannot tip because I don’t agree with your lifestyle and how you live your life.” People flocked to the restaurant to leave big tips for Morales and she received national acclaim for donating the tips to the Wounded Warrior charity. Now the couple has come forward and claims that it is all a hoax. Worse yet, they say that they have proof.
Morales put the receipt on her Facebook page and it went viral. If the couple is telling the truth, this was a claim to victimization that quickly snowballed into an international story.
The New Jersey couple says that they saw the story and were flabbergasted. They say that they support same-sex marriage and voted against Chris Christie because he did not. More importantly, they left an $18 tip, which by the way appears the standard 20 percent since the entire payment for the meal was $111.55. They have the receipt as well as a credit card receipt for the amount of $111.55.
The restaurant is investigating but could not produce the original receipt. I am not sure the VISA bill would answer the question since it would not show the division of the meal and tip amounts. As for the original receipt, that would be highly probative. They say that their receipt shows both the original amount and the added tip. Notably, the receipt produced by Morales shows the amount of $93.55. IF the VISA shows $111.55, that would be pretty damning evidence.
The question is, if true, what is the potential liability for Morales beyond losing her job. As we have discussed with regard to the Stolen Valor Act, there is a first amendment protection for lying. However, you do not have a protected right to commit fraud. If the couple is telling the truth, Morales is wise to donate the proceeds. If she did not financially gain from the tips, a fraud claim can be more difficult to establish. That raises the possibility that even the donation to charity may not have been what it seemed. Again, this is assuming that the couple is the wronged party. We have not heard from Morales. There are also statutory provisions that might be stretched by prosecutor to fit the alleged crime like the following:
2C:21-4. Falsifying or tampering with records
a. Except as provided in subsection b. of this section, a person commits a crime of the fourth degree if he falsifies, destroys, removes, conceals any writing or record, or utters any writing or record knowing that it contains a false statement or information, with purpose to deceive or injure anyone or to conceal any wrongdoing.
It could also raise an interesting forgery case since she was allegedly forging the writing of the couple (though they were not named in the stories). Here is the New Jersey code provision:
2C:21-1 – Forgery and Related Offenses
a.Forgery. A person is guilty of forgery if, with purpose to defraud or injure anyone, or with knowledge that he is facilitating a fraud or injury to be perpetrated by anyone, the actor:
(1)Alters or changes any writing of another without his authorization;
(2)Makes, completes, executes, authenticates, issues or transfers any writing so that it purports to be the act of another who did not authorize that act or of a fictitious person, or to have been executed at a time or place or in a numbered sequence other than was in fact the case, or to be a copy of an original when no such original existed; or
(3)Utters any writing which he knows to be forged in a manner specified in paragraph (1) or (2).
“Writing” includes printing or any other method of recording information, money, coins, tokens, stamps, seals, credit cards, badges, trademarks, access devices, and other symbols of value, right, privilege, or identification, including retail sales receipts, universal product code (UPC) labels and checks. This section shall apply without limitation to forged, copied or imitated checks.
As used in this section, “information” includes, but is not limited to, personal identifying information as defined in subsection v. of N.J.S.2C:20-1.
b.Grading of forgery. Forgery is a crime of the third degree if the writing is or purports to be part of an issue of money, securities, postage or revenue stamps, or other instruments, certificates or licenses issued by the government, New Jersey Prescription Blanks as referred to in R.S.45:14-14, or part of an issue of stock, bonds or other instruments representing interest in or claims against any property or enterprise, personal identifying information or an access device. Forgery is a crime of the third degree if the writing is or purports to be a check. Forgery is a crime of the third degree if the writing is or purports to be 15 or more forged or altered retail sales receipts or universal product code labels.
Otherwise forgery is a crime of the fourth degree.
– See more at: http://statutes.laws.com/new-jersey/title-2c/section-2c-21/2c-21-1#sthash.ZaUqJKBx.dpuf
Then there is the question of the restaurant and whether, beyond firing Morales if the story is proven to be true, it could seek damages to its reputation etc. My guess is that it would not seek such a case even if it could make out the elements.
Finally, there are all those people who gave enhanced tips to support Morales. Theoretically, they could try a class action against the restaurant for its failure of investigation. The restaurant promised to match donations but did not, it appears, check the receipts or charges. It would be a tough case, however. This is particularly due to Morales’ promise to donate tips to a charity. Thus, the customers knew that they were giving money to charity, even if the impetus of the visit was allegedly fraudulent.
Then there is the couple. Morales told ABC that the wife of the couple insulted her when she first introduced herself. That basically says that the customers are bigots and would raise defamation potential. However, they were not named and have kept their names out of the press. Even for a defamation per quod case, it would be weak to establish damages.
The most immediate issue for Morales is criminal liability, though prosecutors could use their discretion in not pursuing the case. Fraud and forgery would be difficult due to the donation of tips as noted above. In a strange way, it is very similar to the Stolen Valor cases. Instead of benefiting socially by claiming to be a decorated hero, she allegedly made herself into a social hero under false pretenses. While we have seen various cases of prosecuted fraud for people collecting money under false claims that they are dying or have lost a loved one (here and here and here and here and here and here), these people are usually found to have pocketed the money. There is the question of whether she had any travel paid for by the media for hotels or flights etc. That would constitute a benefit for establishing the elements of crimes like fraud. Any book deals or movie deals, including early rights payments, would obviously be sufficient. State law actually contains a broad definition of benefit, including benefiting others:
2C:21-8.1.
“Benefit derived” means the loss resulting from the offense or any gain or advantage to the actor, or coconspirators, or any person in whom the actor is interested, whichever is greater, whether loss, gain or advantage takes the form of money, property, commercial interests or anything else the primary significance of which is economic gain.
In the end, if the story is proven true, Morales could walk with simply the ignobility of the disclosure of the hoax. I have written before that such social isolation and condemnation is sufficient in Stolen Valor cases where no money was accepted. For people who want to be heroes, the status as a social pariah is a heavy sanction. She allegedly not only undermined the claims of true discrimination victims but used the fight of equality to benefit herself. Morales would not require a criminal charge to feel the judgment of society in such a case.
Anonymously Yours
1, November 26, 2013 at 1:07 pm
(Sorry, had to run to work and couldn’t reply)
Well, as we all should know by now, True Believers are and will be Judged according to God, not man. So, any True Believers who wish to Judge me as God, well…
… God too, will take that into account.
What I’m saying here is, bigots deserve to be treated the way they treat others (Jesus command) and have their bigotry turned back upon them. I liked your response also… Indoctrination. Good one!
I may be more direct and less patient with bigots than others, however I’ll reserve any apology for my being direct to the bigots when they show me, through their acts and words, that they deserve to be treated better because they are capable of treating me and other GLBTQ individuals respect.
David has his work cut out…
What Mike S. said concerning david’s troubling comment about homosexuals having done this kind of thing before. david, are you suggesting that homosexuals commit alleged frauds more often than their straight counterparts? Let’s see some evidence of that claim.
rafflaw wrote: “…are you suggesting that homosexuals commit alleged frauds more often than their straight counterparts?”
There are studies that indicate they are more likely to commit crimes and engage in self-destructive behavior, and they constitute a higher percentage within the prison population, just like males and blacks. But that was not my point.
What I had in mind is that liberals create a class of people who are supposedly routinely victimized, and by doing this they cause others to rally to the defense of the alleged victims or to look for examples of victimization to prove the unjust existence of the class system. Matthew Shepard and Andrew Anthos were two highly publicized cases of such fraud. There was another case recently involving Red Lobster and a receipt that supposedly had the N word written on it with no tip. The waitress ended up receiving a check for over $10,000 from people who felt bad for her. Later it appears that the whole thing is a fraud. The boy left no tip, but he never wrote the N word on the receipt. He is now suing the Red Lobster restaurant armed with a writing expert.
I think creating a class system in our society is a bad thing. Instead, we should teach compassion to the oppressors and strength to forge ahead despite difficulties to the oppressed. When we see that we are all one people, then we are on the road to a truly civilized society.
Yep.
Mike,
Given that David admitted to having homosexual proclivities, one has to wonder about projection. A lot of projection, when we see pronouncements like that claim he made.
I believe the waitress unless I see a copy of the VISA bill. The couple have claimed the amount they were charged but I don’t see that they actually showed it to anyone.
Felix, please dig out your last restaurant charge slip – write on it and then remove the writing so it looks like nothing was written. It is easier to add something to that paper than to take something away.
There is no doctoring those receipts. There was nothing in the tip section of the merchant copy other than the line drawn through it. I can agree about the he said / she said claim regarding the note but not the tip. Here is something to think about. The restaurant runs your card before you enter a tip amount. It verifies that the card is good and that there are funds available and it puts a hold on the account. For a restaurant – that is usually the amount before the tip. They enter the tip amount after they get the signed copy. It’s possible that someone in the restaurant added the tip amount in that second step. That would account for the difference between the charge on the bill and the total on the merchant copy.
Hey, maybe the people did tip but failed to thank the former mercenary killer for the state for her service. So, the X-Marine got all hormonal and made the story up about being a victim of evil heterosexual customers.
Maybe it wasn’t her lifestyle as a lesbian the people had a problem with, it was her former lifestyle as a murderer for the state. That would have made her the heroic victim of evil pacifists and the FOX News crowd would have rushed to her defense instead of the MSNBC crowd leaning forward to empathize with her tragic victimhood.
I think it is a good idea to leave a tip AND say “thank you for your service” in a monotone voice whenever a crazy looking ex-killer for the state waits on you – regardless of what kind of sex partners they are into.
Identity politics and feigned victimhood can get messy.
Hell, before you know it the victims of cultural Marxism will be basking in feigned victimhood over the annual war against Christmas, the holiest holiday for Christian culture warriors except for Veterans Day and Election Day.
I hope I haven’t written anything that will set off the guy worried about Jewish pedophiles – or someone else upset about Catholic or Muslim pedophiles.
Two people have different stories therefore only one of them can be true, however the one whom everyone assumes to be a liar may be telling the truth. Sometimes the best or more audacious liar wins. If it could be that the waitress falsified the restaurant’s copy of the receipt it could also be that the couple falsified their copy. Another possibility is that the couple who are disputing the waitress’ story are not the couple about whom the waitress complained but mistakenly think that they are.
larry and the waitress are obviously friends both love spreading lies and misery…
“YO ROBIN HOOD,,
POINT OUT 1 LIE THAT I HAVE SAID!
JUST 1.
OR FOREVER SHUT YOUR MOUTH!”
Yo Larry, you are assuming that I would take the ravings of an obviously disturbed person as something I need to put effort into refuting. You’re nothing but a crazed bigot, with no writing skills and the ability to cut and paste out of context. You’re not worth more effort than the paragraph I’ve just written.
wow at the important details always left out of the stories. there is proof they have shown their receipt which shows the 115.55 with nothing written on it..
http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/new-jersey-waitress-victim-discrimination-forged-receipt-article-1.1529227
the couples copy looks identical to the waitress except for the payment amount and the writing. so now we have to wonder if the couples receipt is real then where and why would the waitress pull this stunt? was it to get attention? because she obviously couldnt wait to get home and post it on her facebook.. and her response to the couple is.. ( i dont know all i know is what ive been saying)
morales has been caught in her lies. she probably didnt think it would blow up this way. but im glad it did blow up in her face. because there is enough bs going on right now without this type of crap.. now she will be known for the liar she is. and if she thought her life was bad before. she is in for a rude awakening…. as for why the couple didnt respond before now. they had no idea of what was going on until reading it and realizing the story was about them once they saw the check.. and they came forward….
DUNBAR VILLAGE RAPISTS
Negro Son Forced to Rape His Negro Mother by 10 Negroes
June 10, 2013 //
West Palm Beach – On June 18th, a group of about 10 masked intruders forced their way into a woman’s apartment. These male intruders proceeded to rape the woman, then forced her 12 year old son to rape his own mother.
About 9 p.m., a man knocked on the apartment door saying he needed help as he had a flat tire. Once the woman and her son went outside, they were ambushed at gun point and made to return to the apartment. Back inside, they were “beaten and sexually assaulted”. The police report states that this group raped, sodomized and beat the woman. Finally, at gun point, they forced the son to rape his own mother as the gang watched.
Then, the boy was also beaten, and a number of household cleaning chemicals were poured into his eyes. The victims did not receive life-threatening injuries, and have since been sent home from the hospital. Their identities have not been released.
Since then, DNA evidence found in a condom left at the victim’s home, linked Avion Lawson, 14, to the crime. Another teen has also been arrested: Nathan Walker, 16, because they found his hand print at the scene. More arrests are expected, despite the fact that neither Lawson or Walker are cooperating with the police.
All that was taken otherwise was a few hundred dollars and some jewelry.
Walker’s mother had this to say about her son,
“My son has a good heart. I can’t believe my son would do something like this. I don’t teach my son violence so I don’t understand.”
The victims are now going through a county counseling service.
I don’t understand what the fascination is to do something like this. There was no need to have raped this woman or force her son to rape his mother…period.
AND SHE NEVER GAVE THEM A TIP, FOR THEIR GREAT NEGRO SERVICE!
Without doing more research than warranted under the circumstances, I suspect the “benefit” element of the proposed offenses is made out if Morales had possession use of the donations(even for a short period of time) or could direct where the donations went. A theft occurs even when the stolen property is returned.
They could have added the tip on their receipt. the proof is on the statement showing the amount spent at the restaurant on the date noted.
There are gay jerks, straight jerks, black jerks, white jerks. Seriously, a$$holishness doesn’t discriminate.
You can compare the receipts and see that the waitress is a liar. There are pictures of them up side by side.
I know that isnt what some of you wish to believe it isnt but its the truth.
We live in Florida. Same sex waitressing is legal here. I do not get the objection of the people who wont tip. Cheapskates do not need to give reasons in Florida. That is why we call it tipping. If you want to impose some law that says that you have to pay an extra ten percent then fine. But why put same sex waitressing into the equation. If they are the same sex when they take the order as when they present the bill then it is cosure.
I don’t believe normal people would give their tipping action a second thought as they left to continue their lives. If we assume the diners left their tip and all was good- they probably didn’t notice the story until it had gotten enough attention (this is the first I’ve heard and I live in NNJ). Assuming they didn’t leave a tip and this is true- I think they’d do the same thing. If they monitored hate crime stories for their own to pop up so they could defend it at once it would be weird. No wins till facts!
It would be an interesting coincidence if there were two different sets of diners accruing a bill of $93.55. I don’t see that VISA charge of $111.xx would be valid given the receipt shown. That suggests that there is more than one receipt and the couple that came forward is not the one that didn’t leave a tip. Did this couple retain their receipt from the restaurant? The VISA bill should show the name of the restaurant. There may other explanations. I’m not ready to skewer the waitress or the couple pending further information.
A manager and the restaurant owner insisted they had the original ticket for the $93.55 charge, but would not produce the receipt for NBC 4 New York and could not explain why the family’s credit card was charged for more.