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Burger King does not want its employees to take baths

August 13, 2008 |  1:00 pm

Xenia, Ohio Burger King declares a 2319 after an employee takes a bath in the kitchen sink. Timothy "Mr. Unstable" Tackett gets canned, along with several co-workers, after posting the clip to his MySpace page. BK orders the sink sterilized twice, liquidates all utensils involved:

I have low expectations of cleanliness anytime I dine out. So I'll ask: What made Mr. Unstable's baño any less hygienic than use of the sink to clean, say, pests and pest droppings, spoiled food, employee hands, vomit, stuff that fell on the floor, or any of the other contaminants that routinely need to be cleaned up even in the best restaurants?

"My first thought was oh my God," Greene County health commissioner Mark McDonnell tells WDTN's Megan O'Rourke, and his second and third thoughts aren't much more coherent. Mr. Unstable hosts a clip of McDonnell free-associating on the possible dangers involved in letting a tattooed punker take a birthday bath in a kitchen sink: "Contaminating a food utensil, cleaning sink; employee health; spreading bacteria all over food contact surfaces; spreading bacteria all over... Bacteria that happened to be on his skin could be deposited on the utensils too. Could promote a food poisoning."

Again, are these risks rendered any greater by a guy taking a bath? I say this is another case of aesthetic disapproval pretending to be a public safety concern.

Which isn't to say Burger King shouldn't have fired the guy (pity Xenia, where this is what an underappreciated show business genius has to do for fun on his birthday), though it's a shame to see that the real protagonist of the video — money-grubbing manager "Karen," the only person doing any real work in the joint — seems to have taken a fall as well.


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Comments
1.

It's crazy what people today do just to get attention on You Tube. This is absolutely disgusting. I'm glad I have made the decision not to eat at fast food restaurants. It just goes to show how people can be inconsiderate about others health. On top of all this most fast food restaurants aren't very sanitary to begin with. This just adds the icing on the cake. With thousands of views on You Tube he certainly got his publicity he was looking for.

2.

I live here in xenia...and ate there the day befor this happened... and all this time I wondered why I kept pukeing...andf the Lady in the middle is one of the managers...OMG.... I should sue!!! Whopper anyone I am buying in 2 years...I even get it from our one and only burger king...

3.

at least he didnt use it as a toilet!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

4.

I disagree with Sam, she should partner up with Mr Unstable and cash in on the media. Always wreck your 15 minutes of fame. This dude has a music on his my space page! this is the perfect exposure. I wish him well. As for the manager she needs to get in the mix.

5.

Hey Stormy, what "dishes"? It's a Burger King!

6.

I am a manager at a different "fast food" restaurant and "Karen" should have been fired. All she had to do was stop counting her register, put it in the safe, close the safe and then go back to the sink, tell Mr. Unstable to get out of the restaurant and fire him on the spot. This type of action is irresponsible and unreasonable. She is in her position to get things done. She gets paid the amount she does to get things done. I bet some people would be really surprised to know how much managers really make.

7.

They sanitized the place (from top to bottom) twice because of the dirty sot bathing in their sink. I'd be willing to bet though that whatever washed off of his body was probably no worse than the garbage they're trying to pass for food.

8.

I agree with Tim on this. Its not really any different than cleaning any of the other stuff that you DONT want to know about. Its pretty nasty in the back of these places. To be honest, I would be too grossed out to get into one of those sinks!

9.

I feel bad for BK, because now probably alot of people will not feel safe eating there, I for one will not! Who knows what else goes on there that the public has not seen. They should hire more MATURE RESPONSIBLE people!

10.

It's gross but original & hilarious. Mr. Unstable needs to get him a manager & move to LA.

11.

I think the first commenter is talking about the garbage can, not the kitchen sink. As for the employees fired, I think Burger King was in their rights to fire the guy in the tub, the person shooting the video, any low level managers, and all the way up to the highest manager working that night. I say this for the simple fact that, if the store was open, the store could be sued for indecency if anyone could see him from the dining room. Second as others point out, its a violation of health codes to be taking a bath in the restaurant's sink. Thirdly, what if he slipped and hurt himself getting into or out of the sink, he might try and sue Burger King. Lastly, Employees could sue Burger King, the guy in the sink, and even the manager for sexual harassment for creating an uncomfortable or intimidating environment because, because they had no choice but to be in the kitchen area working while, this idiot got naked and climbed into the sink. I'm vary liberal and live across the bay from San Francisco where, they have fetish festivals and such where, you will see people walking around naked. The difference is, these events are within a defined area, and the public has a choice weather to attend or not. When you pull a stupid stunt like this, hang up posters of naked women or naked men, or make sexual jokes about women, gays, etc it creates an intimidating environment for people. The same holds true in regards to similar things involving religion, race, gender, and in most states sexual orientation.

Since it says several employees got fired I think is went down like this, first the guy in the sink gets fired, than the person with the camera gets fired, than the manager who did nothing upon finding out about it. I figure the managers who came in after her who thought it was funny and didn't report it, and the head manager who likewise didn't report it all got fired.

To me, its sort of like the Spanish basketball team's advertisement, that they did just before the Olympics. Its an image of the whole team holding up their fingers to their eyes to make them slanted. A few players say they felt uncomfortable doing the picture, but they all say the were persuaded to do the photo, and thought nothing would come of it. People do this sort of crap all the time, just look on youtube, America's funniest home video's, or any of those show's that begin with world's dumbest at the beginning. One of the worst is scared on
MTV, and I ask myself, why aren't they wearing helmets, knee pads, when doing skate board, bicycles, and other stunts?
.

12.

OMG. Are you serious??? As a Restaurant Manager, I have to say this is by far the most hideous, insane form of attention from an employee I have ever witnessed. (atleat on video). Xenia should be prous of it's residents. Whopper anyone????

13.

Big deal some dude took a bath, hands are the most dirtiest part of your body considering the have the most exposure to the outside. I know it sounds nasty but your body is most of the time covered. This dude is cool I want to see more of him. God Bless him we now have a new Internet celeb. I am sure we will see him on Good Morning America, Larry King, Howard Stern, Ellen DeGeneres and the whole TV talk circuit. I hear realty show knocking and mayby a cameo in some TV/Movie. I saw as protest we all take baths at our jobs and post it on you tube. I am gonna take mine right now.

14.

Mr. Unstable's next fifteen minutes of fame will occur when he sues Burger King for pain and suffering resulting from butt-poisoning contracted through intimate contact with the restaurant's sink.

15.

So whats the big deal?? What is worse,someone using the sink for a bath and spreading the same bacteria he would have if he had washed the dishes or another employee washing out a pan that had contained tainted meat? Minumum wage being what it is feel lucky you dont know what a real health deparment violation is.From what I saw in the video he was using proper soap and hot water to cleanse himself.Try a burger after an under-trained employee used water that was 4 hours cold and contaminated with raw meat.

16.

I saw this video on break.com last nite and the only thing I could think of was his dirty butt was soaking in the sink they clean the dishes in. YUCK!

In regards to the above article... I don't think that BK washes rodents or rodent droppings in their sink...

I'm glad he was fired. He was obviously an idiot looking for attention. I bet if he was to stand up during that video and show everything we'd see how really inept he is as a man. lol!

17.

He looks like he really does need a bath... I'm pretty sure most of us who've patronized most fast food chains have ingested something we'd rather never know about... This actually is far more tame than some of stories I've heard about things that go on... and he's kinda cute... so that makes it better too...



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