A Comerica Park food service employee was fired and subsequently arrested after a truly revolting video surfaced over the weekend of the individual spitting on a pizza. The incident allegedly took place on Friday, September 21 during the Detroit Tigers game against the Kansas City Royals and was posted by another employee on Saturday, September 22, according to WXYZ. It quickly went viral, receiving hundreds of thousands of views and comments.
In the video originally shared by Quinelle May, the employee can be seen in the prep area of what appears to be a stand serving Little Caesars pizzas. The individual hocks a loogie onto an unbaked, square pan pizza and then scoops sauce over the top. Accompanying the post, May stated that he was sent home early on Saturday from the park for not wearing the appropriate appropriate uniform and staying in the bathroom too long. “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!!!,” he wrote. “The customers don’t deserve this!! This is disgusting!”
Detroit Sportservice, which runs the food operations at Comerica Park, confirmed in a statement to the Detroit Free Press that the stand in question was shut down and its food thrown out as soon as the company became aware of the video. The company fired the unnamed employee and also reported the incident to the Detroit Police Department. The individual was arrested on Sunday for violations related to health, safety, and food tampering. Detroit Sportservice also intends to take legal action against the former employee.
May says he had witnessed the other employee spitting on food before, but was ignored when he brought up the issue with management. May also claims he’s been fired for posting the video and threatened with legal action in an attempt to get the video removed. According to May’s Instagram account, he’s now obtained the services of a lawyer. Detroit Sportservice, disputes that account and says May was only suspended and has not been contacted in any official way to remove the video.
Update (September 27, 2018, 9:56 a.m.): A former Comerica Park employee by the name of Jaylon Kerley was charged with a misdemeanor and a felony on Tuesday for allegedly spitting on a pizza he was preparing, according to the Detroit Free Press. If convicted, he could face a four-year felony and a 90-day misdemeanor for tampering with food. Kerley pled not guilty. His bond was set at $100,000 and he is being required by the court to undergo testing for possible infectious diseases including hepatitis A. Southeast Michigan is currently in the midst of a major hepatitis A outbreak and the virus can be transmitted through contaminated food.
• Comerica Park Food Services Employee Seen Spitting on Pizza in Police Custody [WXYZ]
• Comerica Park Employee Fired, Arrested After He Was Filmed Spitting in Food [Freep]