slacker
Team HuskerBoard
Irregular News for 9.15.05
A Deltona convenience-store employee was suspended after a customer became violently ill upon drinking soda that tests later confirmed had been urinated in.
"He vomited three or four times afterwards," said the victim's attorney, Daniel Newlin, who did not release his client's name in order to protect the man's privacy.
Publix Super Markets spokesman Dwaine Stevens said the accused employee, who works at a Pix Convenience Store in Deltona, has not been back to work since the company learned of the incident this week. An internal investigation is being completed.
Publix, which owns Pix, has not filed a criminal complaint but the option has not been ruled out, Stevens said. The company said the employee admitted urinating in the bottle.
"It was an isolated incident by one associate," he said. "We went back into the store with our suppliers to confirm that there was nothing [else] bothered . . . or violated."
Volusia County Sheriff's Office spokesman Gary Davidson said Tuesday night that he did not know if Publix was doing anything illegal by not reporting the tampering incident.
Newlin said his client, a foreman with a Daytona Beach construction company, became suspicious of the drink after he chugged "a lot" of the beverage last week.
"Imagine a construction worker just grabbing a Mountain Dew and just sucking it down," Newlin said. The man took the soft drink back to the Howland Boulevard store and told the manager of his concerns.
"The manager said, 'Well, jeez, I've had other people return soda before because the soda was bad,' " Newlin said. "And he [the foreman] said, 'I really think it was something else.' "
Testing confirmed that the soda had been urinated in, Newlin said. He said that upon the advice of an infectious-disease doctor, the construction worker was being tested for diseases such as gonorrhea and hepatitis C.
"We're hopeful that the person who did this wasn't carrying any sexual -- or otherwise -- virus that could cause him harm," Newlin said, adding that his client has a wife and two children he wants to protect. "Unfortunately, the doctors were very concerned."
Two other doctors, however, said the chances of contracting a disease from soda contaminated with urine were small unless tests showed signs of infection.
"CDC [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] does not consider urine to be a potentially toxic thing," said Dr. Scott Brady, the senior medical director for Florida Hospital Centra Care. "As gross as it sounds, it [the urine] is not harmful as long as it's not bloody."
Full Story
A Deltona convenience-store employee was suspended after a customer became violently ill upon drinking soda that tests later confirmed had been urinated in.
"He vomited three or four times afterwards," said the victim's attorney, Daniel Newlin, who did not release his client's name in order to protect the man's privacy.
Publix Super Markets spokesman Dwaine Stevens said the accused employee, who works at a Pix Convenience Store in Deltona, has not been back to work since the company learned of the incident this week. An internal investigation is being completed.
Publix, which owns Pix, has not filed a criminal complaint but the option has not been ruled out, Stevens said. The company said the employee admitted urinating in the bottle.
"It was an isolated incident by one associate," he said. "We went back into the store with our suppliers to confirm that there was nothing [else] bothered . . . or violated."
Volusia County Sheriff's Office spokesman Gary Davidson said Tuesday night that he did not know if Publix was doing anything illegal by not reporting the tampering incident.
Newlin said his client, a foreman with a Daytona Beach construction company, became suspicious of the drink after he chugged "a lot" of the beverage last week.
"Imagine a construction worker just grabbing a Mountain Dew and just sucking it down," Newlin said. The man took the soft drink back to the Howland Boulevard store and told the manager of his concerns.
"The manager said, 'Well, jeez, I've had other people return soda before because the soda was bad,' " Newlin said. "And he [the foreman] said, 'I really think it was something else.' "
Testing confirmed that the soda had been urinated in, Newlin said. He said that upon the advice of an infectious-disease doctor, the construction worker was being tested for diseases such as gonorrhea and hepatitis C.
"We're hopeful that the person who did this wasn't carrying any sexual -- or otherwise -- virus that could cause him harm," Newlin said, adding that his client has a wife and two children he wants to protect. "Unfortunately, the doctors were very concerned."
Two other doctors, however, said the chances of contracting a disease from soda contaminated with urine were small unless tests showed signs of infection.
"CDC [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] does not consider urine to be a potentially toxic thing," said Dr. Scott Brady, the senior medical director for Florida Hospital Centra Care. "As gross as it sounds, it [the urine] is not harmful as long as it's not bloody."
Full Story
