At Least He Washed Before He Served Food

XENIA, Ohio (WDTN) - Some workers at a Greene County restaurant are in hot water with the health department, after an employee took a bubble bath in a store sink.

It happened at the Burger King on Orange Street in Xenia.

A four-minute video posted on MySpace captured the employee, self-described as Mr. Unstable, bathing nude in a large stainless steel sink as several other employees and a store manager looked on.

The video began making its rounds on the Internet Monday morning. One of the recipients was Greene County Health Commissioner, Mark McDonnell.

"My first thought was oh my god," said McDonnell.

McDonnell immediately sent staff to restaurant to investigate the numerous health code violations.

He said the restaurant was aware of the incident and had already taken steps to clean up, including disposing of all the utensils and sanitizing the sink twice.

All of the employees involved were fired.

"You can't account for everyone's stupid actions but when things do happen if you respond to it and take the appropriate action that's reassuring," McDonnell said.

Some Burger King patrons don't agree.

"That's just, it's wrong it's a place where families come to eat and them taking a bath in the sink that's just not work ethic," said Crystal Dodge, who said she used to eat at Burger King all the time.

2News reporter Megan O'Rourke went to the Xenia Burger King Monday afternoon looking for comment, but was met at the door by an employee who asked her to leave and referred comment to Burger King's corporate office.

Burger King spokesperson Denise Wilson emailed the following statement to 2News Monday afternoon:

"Burger King Corp. was just notified of this incident and is cooperating fully with the health department. We have sanitized the sink and have disposed of all other kitchen tools and utensils that were used during the incident.

We have also taken appropriate corrective action on the employees that were involved in this video. Additionally, the remaining staff at this restaurant is being retrained in health and sanitation procedures."

But for diners like Crystal, it may be too little, too late.

"That's just disgusting. I wouldn't want to eat here after I heard something like that, that's just not appropriate for employment," Dodge said.

"This kind of stunt really is a black eye for the restaurant itself."

Health Department officials plan to talk with prosecutors to see if any criminal charges will be filed, but they don't have any plans to issue fines at this time.

Report by Megan O'Rourke, WDTN. Web produced by Tony Heitmeyer.
Source
http://www.wdtn.com/global/story.asp?s=8825514