A restaurant server working at Los Angeles International Airport rattles after two customers left a racist message at the top of their receipts.
Read the handwritten notes saying, “There are no hints for illegal people.” “Please go back to Mexico.”
Guillermo Ortiz, who works at Planet Hollywood at Tom Bradley International Terminal, said he was heading towards the end of his shift on March 21, which was waiting for the couple.
“20 minutes later [they left]I opened my checkbook and found a message, and it made me feel bad,” Ortiz said.
Ortiz told KTLA’s Carlos Saucedo that he thought everything was going well with two clients until he gave the check.
“The way they were looking at me can tell when something is not right,” Ortiz said.
The 18.5% reward was already included in the bill, but as stated at the bottom of the receipt, customers can remove the tip if they are not satisfied with leaving that amount.
But then, when Ortiz opened his checkbook rather than the amount of tips, he saw a message full of harmful and hate.
You can see hateful handwritten messages written on top of receipts from customers at Planet Hollywood Restaurant in LAX. March 2025 (Guillermo Ortiz)
“I’ve been working as a server since 2014, and this is the first time that’s happened to me,” Ortiz says.
When Ortiz saw the note, the couple was already gone, and as they paid in cash, there was no way left to track them.
“Perhaps they saw me, they know I’m Hispanic, they don’t know if I thought I was Mexican or illegal, or what they were thinking,” Ortiz said.
Ortiz said he believes current political rhetoric on immigration encouraged this type of action.
“This is happening because of what President Trump is going on right now,” Ortiz said. “I think that’s why people behave like this.”
Despite what the client intended to leave the notes, Ortiz said he would not reduce the work he does.
“I’m proud of what I’m doing,” Ortiz said. “I’m a server. That’s how I support my kids. That’s how I support my family.”
Ortiz reported the incident to management and said the company was investigating it, but despite this, he said he would unfortunately be unemployed by Saturday, when its location on planet Hollywood is closed forever.
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