Food worker fired and arrested for allegedly spitting on pizza in viral video

A food service worker has been fired and arrested after an Instagram video surfaced that reportedly shows him spitting into the pizza he’s preparing.

The video was shot Friday by Quinelle May, 17, an employee at Comerica Park, a ballpark in Detroit and home of the Tigers. It shows a worker spitting on a pizza before covering it with sauce during a baseball game between the Tigers and the Kansas City Royals, according to the Associated Press.

“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,” wrote May on Instagram. “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!!”

On Instagram, May said the man in the video is named “Jaylon,” though he didn’t know his last name. WILX in Detroit identified him as Jaylon Kerley, 20. But a representative from the Detroit Police Department tells Yahoo Lifestyle that the man’s name could not be confirmed at this time. The man was arrested without force on Sunday on charges of tampering with food.

Yahoo Lifestyle could not reach a spokesperson from Detroit Sportservice, the company that provides food to Comerica Park, for comment. The company told Wichita, Kan., news station KAKE: “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.”

May did not return Yahoo Lifestyle’s request for comment; however, he told KAKE that the man in the video was “mad and having a bad day.” May also said the man admitted to previously spitting in food. May told the outlet that he tried to find a co-worker or higher-up to report the incident but said, “Every time I tried to talk, they told me to shut up.” He also said his company ordered him to leave, threatening him with legal action if he didn’t delete the Instagram post.

While May also told the Detroit Free Press that he was fired, Detroit Sportservice said the person who filmed the video was sent home due to a dress code violation. “Our only subsequent communication with that employee was to let him know that he would not be working Saturday or Sunday,” read a statement from the company to the Detroit Free Press. “No one acting in an official work capacity asked him to remove the video.”

Representatives of Comerica Park did not return Yahoo Lifestyle’s request for comment.

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