A Pizza Hut in Kermit, W.Va., was closed Tuesday after a district manager was caught peeing in a kitchen sink by surveillance cameras.
WOWK-TV showed the video to Mingo County Health Department, and the Pizza Hut was temporarily closed, according to the station.
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Pizza Hut issued a written statement about the incident:
"First of all, we are embarrassed by the actions of this individual. Pizza Hut has zero tolerance for violations of our operating standards, and the local owner of the restaurant took immediate action and terminated the employee involved. While the isolated incident occurred during non-business hours and did not involve any food tampering, we follow strict safety and handling procedures and the restaurant has since been closed. We apologize to our customers of Kermit, West Virginia and those in our system who have been let down by this situation."
Health department officials said it could be weeks before the restaurant is reopened.
"They're closed until we do a thorough cleaning on the place and have the reassurance there are safeguards in place," City Sanitarian Brett Vance said, according to WOWK-TV.
The incident is one of several reports of fast-food workers behaving inappropriately to go viral on the Internet in recent months. Other similar incidents include a
Taco Bell employee licking taco shells and a
Wendy’s employee eating directly out of a Frosty machine.
Public relations expert Peter Himler
told USA Today that the attention likely will fade and have little long-term effect on the pizza chain.
Until then, some are taking to Twitter to express their disgust.
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