Random acts of violent crime have become commonplace in American society, with service industry workers often becoming the victims of such unprovoked attacks. One recent incident in Boston, Massachusetts, seems to exemplify this troubling trend.
According to authorities, a 34-year-old male customer, who was not immediately identified, became irate during a visit to an area McDonald’s location after an employee touched the lid to his drink and punched the individual “several times.”
2/24 7PM #MBTA South Station TPD Offs arrested a 34y/o male after he attacked a McDonald's employee striking him several times w/fists & register. The SP became upset when the employee touched the lid of his drink. SP transported to TPDHQ for booking. V treated on scene.
— MBTA Transit Police (@MBTATransitPD) February 25, 2024
The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority Transit Police indicated that first responders treated the victim’s injuries at the scene and the suspect was taken into custody.
Of course, this was just the latest in a string of seemingly unjustifiable physical assaults on food service staff.
As far back as 2021, fast food industry insiders were looking for ways to record the shocking rise in attacks on employees.
The Service Employees International Union published a comprehensive report that year using 911 call logs to provide a clearer representation of the problem. According to that data, there were at least 77,000 acts of violence or threats thereof reported between 2017 and 2020 in just the McDonald’s, Burger King, Carl’s Jr. and Jack-in-the-Box restaurants located in the nine most populous cities in California.
“They’ve been choked by customers, pulled by the hair, grabbed at or pushed, and hit with food or other projectiles,” according to the report. “Many more workers describe living in fear as a result of threats from customers or being emotionally shaken by violent incidents they witnessed.”
In some cases, employees who have attempted to defend themselves, their coworkers and customers were unceremoniously fired by their employers, as was reportedly the case after a viral video showed a quick-thinking Waffle House employee respond to the threat posed by a group of unruly individuals.
Not only was the worker — identified only as Halie B in a social media video last year in which she recounted her experience — reportedly fired for preventing a flying chair from hitting her, she said she had been prevented from getting a job at any of the chain’s other locations.
“I was blacklisted,” she claimed. “I can’t ever work for Waffle House again. I tried working for another sometime earlier this year and they found out I was blacklisted.”
