Poisoned Wendy's manager harangued for calling 911
Filed under: Extracurriculars, Food
There's following what you believe is corporate policy and then there's just nuts.According to 10connects.com in Tampa Bay, Fla., a manager at a Jacksonville Wendy's is complaining that she was called on the carpet last week for calling 911 after drinking something at work that may have been laced with oven cleaner.
Sara Barahona said it was hot at the store, the AC was out and she gulped her drink. It tasted funny and when she lifted the lid, it didn't look right, either. She had no clue what was in there so she called for medical help. Sounds reasonable.
Now comes the weird, news-making part. A few days later she's summoned by the district manager. She says he faults her, in front of others, for getting help because emergency vehicles outside the restaurant is bad for business. Poisoned managers aren't real high on the PR scale either, but let's move on.
Alan Pruitt, president of Wendy's of Michigan and Florida, has confirmed there was a meeting. He told the Web site that the district manager did not fault Barahona for calling 911; instead, get this, managers were reminded to also call the district office in the event of an emergency.
Let this sit for a minute. You think you've been poisoned. You don't know what you just drank, so you call for help. You're also supposed to call your boss? Does the manual also include instructions for passing out in a proper, corporate manner?
Ever worked in an office? This would be funny if it didn't ring so true. Think Dwight Schrute isn't based on real people? You haven't worked corporate.
Wendy's spokesman Bob Bertini made the company's position clear, and clearly more humane, in an e-mail this afternoon.
"We train our employees to call 911 in the event of emergencies," he said. "This is something that's encouraged. We are taking Ms. Barahona's allegations seriously. To our knowledge, no charges have been filed by police in this matter, pending their investigation."
Barahona said there had been a dispute earlier with a worker. The Jacksonville Sheriff's office determined that there was something in the drink. They said this morning that it was still an open investigation and that no arrests had been made.
I called the store. The manager, who cheerily said "This is Ed" when he picked up, didn't say much more. I told him what I was calling about and he said "No comment." I asked if there was someone who could comment, like the district manager. He said "No comment." I asked if there was an e-mail address I could send a question to. Go ahead. Guess.
Next step. Lawyers. Barahona doesn't like the way it was handled and has hired an attorney. Wouldn't be any fun without lawyers involved, would it?
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 10)
10-14-2009 @ 2:10PM
inga said...
we used to eat Wendy's alot. Kept getting intestinal problems. My husband quit eating there and it stopped. My kids and I quit, and we haven't had any problems since. Some co-workers used to eat @ Wendy's on their way to work. Complained of stomach problems. Qiut eating there, amazingly they're fine now.
Hmm, go figure
Reply
10-15-2009 @ 11:20AM
Bill said...
It's not just the resturants.
I worked for Staples and I passed out and had chest pain while on the clock. You guessed it. They refused to call an ambulance because it did not look good to have one out front. I complained and was fired within 5 months.
Oh yeah, We were told to clock out also or we would be fired!!
10-14-2009 @ 8:13PM
duck said...
worst case of food poisoning i ever had was from wendy's
10-14-2009 @ 6:20PM
wendy said...
The stomach problems were due to improperly washed lettuce, improperly washed and sanitized soda fountain spiggots(supposed to be done daily), Undercooked meat, Never cleaned ice machines(you should see the bottom of the bin, plus employees doing #2 or #1 and never washing their hands. I worked at Wendy's and Arby's and saw it every day. Management isn't any cleaner.
10-14-2009 @ 6:35PM
corg_spores said...
Wow! You ate a high-calorie, high-fat, high-sodium fast food diet "all the time" and had stomach problems? weird. Shoulda had a V8.
10-14-2009 @ 11:01PM
SpiceMonkey said...
Yeah sure, and this never happens at any other fast food places, right? Maybe you should try eating like a human instead of eating and feeding your kids this crap all the time. WTF kind of parent are you, and don't say "I'm so busy," if that's the truth perhaps you should put your kids up for adoption to someone who can care for them properly.
10-14-2009 @ 2:31PM
bigjohn said...
Stuff like that seems to happen at alot of fast food chains,mainly due to the quality of people that they hire.When you hire nothing but thugs and 9th grade drop outs,what do you expect?? some people just cant function in society so you get crap like this happening.Im not saying everyone that works at a fast food restaurant is a dysfunctional illiterate failure,but it does seem that the majority definitely fall into this category.I only order fast food when I want someone to screw up my order and dump it in a bag upside down,and have digestive problems for 3 days straight.
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10-14-2009 @ 3:50PM
Lee said...
I wonder how many of these fast food restaurants that employ thugs and 9th. grade dropouts did you eat at before you were know as BIGJOHN.
10-14-2009 @ 4:42PM
jamie said...
I actually work at a wendy's. It's in a small town, so the majority of the people working there are highschoolers and people like me trying to pay for school. So don't be so judgmental, and try to understand that it's people that it's people that make your food. Not robots. Mistakes will happen.
10-14-2009 @ 4:53PM
Lita said...
You hit the nail on the head with that reply Big Jon!!
10-14-2009 @ 5:07PM
Ralph said...
Big John - Gotta love your sweeping logic(?). So tell me what DO you hire for $8 an hour? You want the job? Last I looked they do not require a BS or MS or PhD to work the fast food counter. But then we go back to pay. How many PhD's you think you will hire for $8 / hour and minimal if ANY retirement or medical benefits?
MOST are good people trying to do a good job. Want better? Improve the educational system to produce better grads. Better yet, improve parents to send better raw material TO school.
10-14-2009 @ 5:49PM
rjj said...
Are you some kindmof idiot??? Fast food workers are the most under appreciated workers in this country. Everyone thinks that they are worthless people who can't do anything else. There are many many people whose first jobs were in fast food some are now CEO's or better yet running their own companies, myself included. A persons first job is generally in fast food where they learn and grow to be GOOD productive people in this country. Some are even in our government. Look in a mirror. you think you are better than tehy are???? Your email shows just how ingnorant you really are.
10-14-2009 @ 6:03PM
cee cee said...
your an idiot plain and simple!
10-14-2009 @ 7:11PM
pinkthenred said...
So I guess because they didn't finish high school they should be treated like less of a person. You have to think in your mind that they are also thugs in order to justify your insulting someone simply because they work with food usually at minimum wage, sad.
10-14-2009 @ 8:14PM
yeahisaiditsowhat said...
bigjohn is it? Did you need a dictionary to help you with your spelling, seeing how people that work at fast food joints are um... stupid according to you. I worked at a fast food establishment while i attended high school and guess what poop 4 brains, i'm a registered nurse full-time and a writer as a second career choice.
did i go to fast 4 you or use to many big words? maybe it's you that's the thug or better yet the idiot you say others are....
10-14-2009 @ 8:54PM
Elrod said...
The service industry has no choice than to hire those who simply want nothing more than to earn some cash so they can go out and party like animals on Friday and Saturday nights. NO ONE wants to work there because there is no union, they treat you like crap all the time, work you mercilessly for little or minimal compensation at all and demand MORE MORE MORE from you all the time! Not to mention the constant "contests" they hold for a $25.00 gift certificate at the very place you hate to work at, ever changing DEMANDS from corporate "SUITS" who have never stood behind a counter a day in their lives and customers who treat you as if your first name is "Mammy".
10-15-2009 @ 4:59AM
RTinsuranceGal said...
Okay, so I'm probably the first to say, "They work at fast food restaurant X for a reason" when I get all the way home after a particularly long, hard day at work only to find my order wrong. However, I'm definitely the first to talk about the problem with those who work the welfare system out of sheer laziness. So tell me, oh wise one, would you rather be paying these people to sit home watching TV all day on your dime or trying to sell crack to your kids? Of course not. They may be young, uneducated, or just plain dumb (not saying everyone who works in fast food), but they're making an honest living. So, bigjohn: What's your problem?
Furthermore, this has nothing to do with the issue at hand. Would it somehow make it more horrifying or important if this woman worked in an office and someone slipped rat poison in to her coffee? The answer is no. Someone deliberately attempted to make her ill, or worse. She did the right thing, the smart thing. Wendy's should be ashamed of themselves for handling it this way. It also make me wonder-- If this is the lack of concern they have for the health and safety of their employees, what makes me think they give a damn about the health and safety of me, their customer?
10-14-2009 @ 2:26PM
kerry wennrich said...
if there was cleaner in it don't you think the manager would have been made aware of it
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10-14-2009 @ 3:56PM
ekb said...
I beleive the whole point was to poison the manager. Did you read the article?
10-14-2009 @ 4:16PM
Babygirl said...
SHE WAS THE MANAGER