On Jan. 8, a local UTSA sorority student went viral on TikTok for verbally assaulting a Whataburger employee. The video shows Charlee Malone shouting insulting, discriminating phrases such as, “You’re gonna work here forever, broke-a– h–,” at the employees behind the camera. After continuing to shout absurd things, she hurls her drink toward the employee and begins running out the door. 

The video cuts to another clip of Malone — moments after throwing the drink — dashing to her car while the employee from behind the camera shouts, “Get her license plate number.” Malone continues yelling derogatory terms while blocking the view of her license plate number from the camera. The video ended abruptly after seeing Malone charge toward the camera. 

On Jan. 12. UTSA’s Delta Chapter of Alpha Sigma Rho Sorority posted an apology on social media.

 “This behavior is not a representation of our chapter or sorority as a whole,” Alpha Sigma Rho stated.
While the apology was a step in the right direction, more could have been done. It remains to be seen whether or not Malone is still an active member of the sorority.

 “We do not condone our sister’s actions. As an organization, we will reflect on this incident and ensure that we are teaching our current and future sisters to uphold the values of integrity, goodwill, and moral development.”

Situations like this are not uncommon — they happen on a daily basis. Today, there is an unfortunate subset of society that feels entitled to the respect of service workers, which is not the case. People who work in the service industry are the foundation of everything: many businesses would not function properly without them. Degrading minimum wage workers is a trend that needs to stop because it is simply inhumane, and those who partake in said actions must face the consequences. Far too often, people are not held accountable for their harmful actions and that narrative needs to be changed through various actions. 

The employee did the correct thing by filming Malone because she is now being forced to face the consequences in every aspect of her life. Thousands of people have seen the viral video and are not happy; therefore, the viewers are making sure she is being held accountable by alerting the sorority and demanding change. In future situations that may be similar, it is important to ensure that people will not get away with this treatment, especially when it comes to degrading hard-working employees.