Waitress Accused of Lying About Anti-Gay Customers Denying Her a Tip Now Out of a Job

The New Jersey waitress accused of lying about a bigot customers denying her a tip and leaving her an anti-gay note instead has been fired from her job, Gothamist reported.

Danya Morales (Image source: WPIX-TV)

Gallop Asian Bistro in Bridgewater released a Facebook statement Saturday after Dayna Morales, 22, reportedly began returning donations that sympathizers sent her after her initial story surfaced: "In light of the investigation and recent events, both Ms. Morales and Gallop Asian Bistro have made a joint decision that Ms. Morales will no longer continue her employment at our restaurant."

The full statement:

The Gallop Asian Bistro has taken seriously the allegations made by Ms. Dayna Morales, and those made against her. Despite news reports to the contrary, this is not a simple, straight-forward matter and we have conducted our own internal investigation. The results of that investigation are inconclusive as to exactly what happened between Ms. Morales and the customers that night. However, in light of the investigation and recent events, both Ms. Morales and Gallop Asian Bistro have made a joint decision that Ms. Morales will no longer continue her employment at our restaurant. We wish her well in the future.Overall, this has been an unfortunate incident for Gallop Asian Bistro, our employees, and our customers. We are dedicated to providing excellent Asian cuisine and superior service. We have the utmost faith in our management and staff and we welcome the opportunity to serve our customers.

Morales received more than $3,000 in donations via PayPal, Gothamist reported, and promised to donate the money to the Wounded Warriors (which she hadn't as of this week). Some individuals have indicated receiving refunds from Morales after her story began falling apart, Gothamist added. (The couple whom she accused of not leaving a tip and leaving an anti-gay note instead presented a receipt with a tip and no note as evidence of Morales' apparent hoax.)

Others since came forward and claimed she has a history of not telling the truth, whether pertaining to restaurant tips, military service, claims of brain cancer, or saying her home was severely damaged by Superstorm Sandy.

"Every story she comes up with has a lie,” ex-coworker Julie Howat told the Journal News.

“Any tragedy that happened, she had to be a part of it. She needed sympathy and empathy,” she added.

A former classmate of Morales’ told the newspaper that you “can’t believe much of what she says.”

Image source: USA Today screengrab

Morales allegedly told friends that she somehow managed to survive an explosion that killed her entire platoon in Afghanistan. A U.S. Marines spokesman confirmed that the waitress served in the Marine Corps Reserve until May 2013, but there was “no indication of combat service in Iraq or Afghanistan.”

Morales failed to “fulfill her reserve obligation,” the spokesman said.

More from the Journal News:

The explosion left her with back injuries that required surgery and a couple of months to recover, Larkin said Morales told her employer. But during her time off, Morales posted photos of herself on Facebook enjoying a trip to Florida with a girlfriend, they said.

Samantha Reidy of Pomona, who dated Morales for a month a couple of years ago, said Morales appeared to have undergone the back surgery, and sent pictures of herself in pain. But Reidy said Morales told her that she had a quick recovery that allowed her to take the trip. Morales, who stopped all contact with Reidy shortly after taking the trip to visit another girlfriend, got engaged to the other woman when she returned.

Reidy said poems penned by Morales during their courtship that she kept appeared to have matched the writing on the restaurant receipt, bringing into question whether Morales wrote the note on the receipt herself.

Here's a report from WPIX-TV in New York:

(H/T: Gothamist)

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