Wendy's Employee Says She Was Reprimanded for Calling 911 After Poisoning

JACKSONVILLE, FL -- An employee of a local Wendy's restaurant says her boss reprimanded her for calling first responders after she drank a poisonous substance.

Sara Barahona has worked for Wendy's for a year, most recently as the assistant manager of the restaurant on 103rd Street in Jacksonville.

It was at the restaurant, last Friday night, that Barahona became sick after police say someone put a poisonous substance in her soft drink.

Barahona says her district manager accused her of not having permission when she called 911.

According to JSO reports, police responded to the restaurant just after midnight.

Barahona says that night she was supervising a handful of employees as they closed up the restaurant.

"The A/C wasn't working, so it was extremely hot, so I took a couple of gulps of my drink," Barahona recalls.

She says her soft drink tasted funny, and looked strange when she lifted the lid.

"It was all white and foamy. I started getting sick, and when I calmed down, I called rescue because I wasn't sure what I ingested," Barahona said.

Police arrived and collected evidence.

"They later determined it was something like oven cleaner," Barahona says of what was in her drink.

Barahona says she told police she'd had an argument with one of her employees earlier. She says she told police she thought that employee may have put the substance in her drink as retaliation.

The Jacksonville Sheriffs Office will not comment on the case other than to say no suspects have been named and it is an ongoing investigation.

Barahona says the fact that she got first responders involved got her into trouble with her superiors at Wendy's.

She says she was called to a meeting by the district manager a few days later, expecting a discussion on safety in the workplace.

Instead, Barahona says she was reprimanded in front of her peers.

"I was told the police being there damaged the public perception of Wendy's," Barahona said. "I can't believe the way I was treated."

A spokesperson for Wendy's corporate communications office says the company never discourages employees from calling police in emergencies and that Wendy's is taking Barahona's allegations seriously.

Alan Pruitt, President of Wendy's of Michigan and Florida, echoed those remarks.

He confirmed that there was a meeting called with store managers.

Pruitt says the human resources department is aware of the poisoning investigation, but they were not aware of Barahona's concerns for how the incident was handled until now.

Pruitt says the district manager did not fault Barahona for calling 911; rather, he reminded store managers to call the district office as well in the event of an emergency.

Barahona disagrees with how the conversation went, and plans to hire an attorney.

"I don't think this is something I'm going to recover from anytime soon. I think that it could have been handled a lot better," Barahona said.

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