A restaurant employee at Comerica Park in Detroit was terminated from his job this week after a colleague shared video footage of him spitting on pizzas. Jaylon Kerley, the employee in question, apparently spat on customers' food after his managers irritated him, and was exposed when a video of the incident was posted to Instagram.
Quinelle May, who was later suspended from his position at the food stand after sharing the footage online, posted this explanation along with the clip of the offender:
"I was sent home early today because I didn’t have on my Comerica Park shirt and they say I was at the bathroom for too long. So they yelled at me and told me to go home. But since they made me go home early I couldn’t wait until after the game to tell them an employee was spitting in customer pizzas!!! ??? The customers don’t deserve this!! This is disgusting! And for the company to threaten me and let me go for exposing this video to the fans is also disgusting!!?"
In further comments, May added that Kerley contaminated the pizzas with his saliva because "the supervisor kept yelling at him".
Representatives for the park said that the incident took place on Friday night last week, and that anything which may have been tampered with was destroyed as soon as they found out.
"As soon as we became aware through social media of potential food tampering Friday night, we immediately closed that food stand and disposed of all the product. Food safety is our top priority and we will take any appropriate action necessary to protect our guests," said Detroit Sportservice, which provides food and drink at Comerica Park.
The spokesperson also provided a comment on May's suspension:
"The employee who filmed and posted the video was sent home from the game Friday evening on an unrelated uniform violation prior to us learning about the food tampering via the video being posted on social media. Our only subsequent communication with that employee was to let him know that he would not be working Saturday or Sunday. No one acting in an official work capacity asked him to remove the video. We referred information regarding the video to the Detroit Police Department and they have told us it is an active investigation."
Meanwhile, May is facing criticism online for not having done enough to stop his former coworker from spitting in customers' meals.
Many have argued that the employee should have altered his managers about Kerley's behaviour before he left the premises, rather than waiting to post it on social media later on. However, others pointed out that May is younger than Kerley, and may have felt threatened in the situation.
After he was terminated from his position, Kerley was arrested for his actions. Officials on the case have reported that the man is currently in police custody and could potentially face charges.
