Domino’s YouTube Employees Arrested
April 15, 2009 by Sean Kelly
Filed under Business
Two Conover, NC Domino’s employees are facing criminal charges for contaminating food after they posted a video showing them doing disgusting things to customers’ sandwiches on YouTube.
Kristy Lynn Hammonds, 31, and Michael Anthony Setzer, 32, turned themselves in to authorities this afternoon. Hammonds and Setzer are being held in jail on $7,500 bond each. If convicted, they could spend four months to one year behind bars.
According to WCNC.com,
“Hammonds, who also goes by the name Kristy Lynn Thompson, has a rap sheet that includes charges for communicating threats and making harassing phone calls. Those charges were ultimately dismissed. But Catawba County authorities did confirm that Hammonds is a registered sex offender from Alexander County.”
Hammond’s mug shot is viewable on the NC Sex Offenders registry stemming from a charge of sexual battery.
The justifiably angry response (below) from Patrick Doyle, President, Domino’s U.S.A was applauded by sympathetic YouTube viewers. The original video (which Hammonds and Setzer claim was a prank showing food that was never delivered) was widely criticized.
DOMINO’S RESPONSE VIDEO:
HERE’S THE ORIGINAL “PRANK” VIDEO (gross-out warning)
WHAT DO YOU THINK? SHARE A COMMENT BELOW.
Mug shot: NC State Bureau of Investigation License: public domain
Since seeing this story the other day, I’ve been meaning to ask some of the lawyers types out there… what would happen if a franchisee, or in my case an independent business, as part of the employment process, had new employees sign an document outlining that they are not under any circumstances permitted to film, record, any video or audio using any kinds of film or electronic method, anything within the business property? We all know there has to be such documents out there for sensitive types of jobs where trade secrets or government classified stuff exists. So could we use the same thing in our type of place?
Even if it wasn’t something that would legally hold up, maybe it could just be written to scare little shitheads like these two.
Didn’t you have anything like that for employees to sign when you were part of Quiznos?
I would assume that there’s a non-disclosure agreement that they’d sign forbidding them from disclosing procedures, recipes, etc. as well as nondisparagement.
If anyone has a sample document, I’ll post it.
That said, every fast food franchisor should have a crisis management plan ready to help franchisees who get victimized like this. This is nothing new. Even before YouTube brought us Burger King Sink baths and Domi-nose Cheese, people were dropping human thumbs in Wendy’s chili and telling Urban Legends of Kentucky Fried Rats (not true).
No one should be taken by surprise… it’s a matter of WHEN.
We seem to have a culture that produces both bad employers and bad employees and this may be a product of secularism where there is “no policeman within” and self control and the golden rule cannot be successfully legislated.
If, as some attorneys and writers, like Richard Solonmon, have indicated, the “church” was the first franchisor, at least they were trying to franchise some good rules under which societies would and could live with each other.
How can we protect ourselves against the big terrorists and the little terrorists who live among us when there is no policeman within the hearts and minds of so many who rationalize their acts out of ignorance, or malice, or justice?
Rich! Have you collected your judgment from Quiznos?
Carol
A textbook response by Patrick Doyle. It really does go to show why it’s important for companies to have a social media strategy and how to get in front of a potential public relations nightmare.
Gus
Franchise Solutions
Sick. But, excellent response from Patrick. I appreciated his firm stance and clear position. I would still visit Dominos for a lunch or dinner snack.