Vets Group: No Record Of Donation From NJ Waitress Who Claimed ‘Lifestyle’ Slur
Dayna Morales, the New Jersey waitress who claimed a family refused to tip her but left an anti-gay note on the restaurant receipt, has become the target of increasing scorn as her story seems to be falling apart at every turn.
First, Morales sent a Facebook group a receipt she said was from a family who had given her a hard time at the Gallop Asian Bistro when she served them. Instead of a tip, she accused them of writing, “I’m sorry I cannot tip because I do not agree with your lifestyle and the way you live your life.â€
Her story went viral, and was covered by the national mainstream media.
Hundreds of sympathetic citizens, gay and straight, sent her words of support — and donations to make up for the tip she supposedly never received.
Morales said her employer was matching those donations, and she promised to give all the funds, about $3000, to the Wounded Warrior Project.
But then NBC New York was contacted by the family Morales had accused, and they claimed they had indeed tipped her — $18 on a $93 check. They gave NBC their Visa statement and their copy of the restaurant receipt, and accused her of “fraud.”
Other stories started to surface. Morales was accused of being a compulsive liar, of being dishonorably discharged from the Marines, of telling co-workers she had brain cancer, that Hurricane Sandy had destroyed her home, that, as a Marine, she was the only member of her unit who survived an attack. The list seemed endless.
Now, one more disappointing wrinkle in the no-tip story.
Patch.com reports that “as of Wednesday, the Wounded Warrior Project, a nonprofit that supports veterans returning from overseas duty, could not confirm Morales had made any donations.”
A Wounded Warrior representative checking for donations by her name and the ZIP codes for Bridgewater, where the restaurant is located, and Bedminster, where Morales said she lives, was unable to find any matching donations.
The donations may have been made from a different ZIP code, or by a third-party, the representative said.
Who knows at this point what the truth really is. One fact seems certain: Morales isn’t talking to the press.
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Screenshot via CNN and ABC
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