A Florida man caught on video berating a woman who asked him to wear a mask has been fired from his job.
The video of Daniel Maples screaming at another customer at a Costco in Fort Myers, Florida, on June 27 went viral, and it led to Ted Todd Insurance to terminate his employment on Tuesday.
“Thank you to everyone for their comments and messages raising awareness about a former employee at Ted Todd Insurance,” a statement from CEO Charley Todd said, according to USA Today. “Their behavior in the video is in direct conflict with our company values and their employment has been terminated. Threatening behavior and intimidation go against our core mission to be trusted advisors in our community. We are also committed to immediately reviewing our internal existing culture at TTI.”
Florida man at Fort Myers Costco in “Running the World Since 1776” shirt flips out on elderly woman who asked him to wear a mask and man who defended her #BecauseFlorida (via @profjaffar) pic.twitter.com/PDOvi33qHK
— Billy Corben (@BillyCorben) July 7, 2020
Maples was identified as the man wearing a red, “Running the world since 1776” T-shirt in the video on Tuesday. His biographical page on Ted Todd Insurance’s website, which was deleted on Tuesday, said that he had been with the company since 2016 and that he was “currently the highest-producing sales agent in the company … Likes: Hot yoga, traveling, cooking and mentoring others.”
In the video, he approached a woman who asked him to obey the mask-wearing policy. He shouted, “I feel threatened!” and “Back up! Back the f— up and put your f—ing phone down!” The video, which has received millions of views, was shared by Billy Corben, a documentary filmmaker, obtaining it from the person that filmed the encounter.
As many stores have implemented masks policies, videos of other customers who get angry when they are told to put on a face covering have become a regular occurrence.
