Three days ago, the claim by a New Jersey waitress who claimed to have been stiffed on a tip because of her sexual orientation began collapsing, but unfortunately for Dayna Morales, that’s not the end of the story. After the original story went viral, the family who supposedly stiffed Morales showed NBC New York their credit-card bill, establishing convincingly that Morales did indeed get a tip — and that someone else must have written the note. Last night, NBC New York dug deeper and found a few more issues in Morales’ background, including a history of fabulism:
The New Jersey waitress whose story has been questioned after she claimed she received an anti-gay note instead of a tip on a restaurant bill was dishonorably discharged from the Marines last spring after she stopped showing up, NBC 4 New York has learned.
And that’s not all:
A woman who says she and Morales worked together at a Cheesecake Factory in Nyack, N.Y., last year said Morales told coworkers she had brain cancer.
“She came in with her hair shaved because she wanted to shave it herself before she lost it,” said Jacqie Fitzpatrick.
Fitzpatrick said Morales also leaned on the cancer story to accept offers of help from friends at work.
Then, she abruptly quit, according to Fitzpatrick, and her coworkers didn’t see her again until she appeared in news reports about the receipt.
Morales collected $3,000 in donations from people after the original story went viral. Supposedly “most” of that money was headed for the Wounded Warrior Project. Maybe NBC New York will follow up on the story by following the money next.
