Waitress Calls Patron ‘Traitor’ for His Role in Impeachment

LAKELAND, Fla. —  A waitress says she was fired for serving Rep. Charles T. Canady (R-Fla.) a heaping portion of criticism about the impeachment of President Clinton.

Carolee Westcott says she was canned from the Olive Garden restaurant after calling Canady, a former Democrat, a “turncoat or traitor” for his recent vote to impeach the president.

She said managers told her that her interaction with the congressman “wasn’t exactly ‘hospitaliano,’ ” using the Italian restaurant chain’s word for warmth to customers.

The restaurant denied she was fired, claiming the divorced mother of five did not return for work after she was told to go home and cool off.

The dispute unfolded Monday as Canady, one of Clinton’s harshest critics, was dining with his wife, Jennifer.

Westcott was working near Canady’s table when she spoke of her displeasure about the congressman.

“I said something like, ‘It’s a shame when politicians do things for themselves [and] ignore the will of the people.’ ”

She didn’t know, she said, that Canady overheard her and asked for a manager. Westcott was called to the table and when Canady asked her if she had something to say to him, she offered her opinion.

“I made one statement and that’s it,” Westcott, 38, said Saturday. “I told him, ‘I think you are a Democratic turncoat or traitor who stabbed my president in the back.’ ”

Canady, a member of the House Judiciary Committee who took a leading role in the impeachment debate, admitted he complained about Westcott. But he said he was clear to managers he did not want her to lose her job.