Some of the blame lies with the company that hired these idiots. Too many times employees are hired because they will do the work for as little money as possible; in turn, the food quality suffers because the employees don't really give a rip.

Similarly, in my classroom at school, discipline isn't really about what the offender learns, it's more about the other 10-15 kids in the classroom seeing the consequences play out.

1.) They have a 20 acre "domino land" or some such in Kentucky. For the holidays, it's heavily decorated and set up for children to come and play for free.
2.) Churches get an automatic discount so all large pizzas are a flat rate of $6 each. (According to my father in Illinois, anyway.)
3.) They're heavily involved in charity.
4.) They funded my sister's church group to come to DC for a church related outing.

You never hear about any of the good stuff they do, and then this happens. Between the way they handled this situation, and what I've recently found out, I will ONLY purchase from Domino's from now on. Maybe someone at Consumerist should dig a bit into their charity work and try to give them some good press after this debacle?

I keed, I keed...

No matter how they try to argue that the food didn't go out, if the food really did go out (which I highly suspect it did) they will lose that argument to a jury.

And that's just the tip of the ice burg.

They have them on the additional felony count of using the cleaning supplies (ie: sponge) to wipe their bare ass with. THAT is the biggest and most damaging act. Moreso than the boogers, as human feces is notorious for transmitting disease.

Finally, in the civil suit, the damage done to the franchise will be more than both of these morons put together will ever make in a lifetime.

Domino's HAS to see this on through. They have to set a precedent and make an example of these two. Not just to save face, but it's overdue that someone show these idiots just how serious food tampering really is, in EVERY restaurant.

FFS, he even put shit on the food AFTER it was cooked! That's just flat unsanitary, and dangerous. He hardly looked clean in the first place. I'd be shocked if he'd bathed in days.

Taking this seriously < Taking this INCREDIBLY seriously.

He obviously knew that unless he pulled out the big guns we wouldn't take HIM seriously.

That said, the likelihood of this asshat carrying it in his nose - and still being able to report to work - are pretty low. So problem solved. Generally, though, it's not the toxins you have to worry about, it's the organism itself which like to wreak havoc on yo' belly. And yes, like the CDC says, cook it, and it's all good...but no, I wouldn't want to knowingly eat something that has been up someone's nose regardless of bacteria. It's really not the bacteria that skeeve me about that proposition. Really.

/throws up just a little at idea

To make matters worse, Kristy Lynn Hammonds is a registered sex offender in the State of NC.

[ncfindoffender.com]

As for the DA they should test these two for any type of illness or disease and see about charging them more harshly! I have zero tolerance for messing with food or medicine in anyway much less like this.

It might be a lower paying job sector but if you work in this line of business it should be known there will be severe consequences for messing around with anything someone else puts in their body! Minimum jail time of 1 year should be mandentory.

This lack of supervision is of course due to cost cutting measures that Dominos would say are needed to remain competitive.

My point, and what we all should learn from this, is that if you want to feed your entire family for less than $20, and want it delivered, then you're probably going to end up with human mucus (and probably animal waste) in your food.

@lannister80: Actually, in many states it is illegal to flash your headlights while your vehicle is in motion. So tell me, why is it ok for you to break the law by flashing your headlights when you "think (they) are going way too fast?" Let's assume for a minute they ARE speeding, you're both breaking traffic laws.

@sirwired:

If they're convicted on the food handling matters, it's not just a matter of never working at Domino's again. It's that they'll be banned from ever working in the food industry again.

As for pleading down to a misdemeanor, well, they might get less than a year in prison, but I imagine they're going to get tagged hard. I mean, LOTS of people eat out, people will simply imagine this stuff happening to him and throw the book at them.

@dohtem: Umm, I don't think you understand the term "scapegoat." A scapegoat takes the fall for something that they weren't 100% responsible for. Nobody forced these stupid assholes to make those videos, and nobody else was involved...

Speaking of dumb employees seeing consequences for their actions, anyone ever know what happened to the kid who took a bath in the basin at Burger King in Xenia, Ohio (which was reported on the consumerist a few months ago)?

@GuidedByLemons: hey... I like Domino's. When I feel like drifitng away from my new found love of eating right, I like their Philly Steak and Cheese pizza... so bad for me, yet so good :)

I absolutely LOVE the response from Domino's, and for anyone to even *suggest* that the lawsuit is "overkill" is to try and make these filthy pigs the victims. They are NOT the victims, we as the public are. Yes, Domino's will spend more money in the lawsuit than they will ever get out of them, but I know that prior to this response, I was not a Domino's fan.

After seeing Domino's step up to the plate and say loud and clear that emulating movies like "Waiting" is NOT okay, I will be eating Domino's any time we order pizza from here on out. What they may lose in the cost of lawyers they will gain 100 fold in customer loyalty.

The criminal courts might give these two a slap on their wrists, but rest assured a civil suit will make them practical slaves to Dominos for the rest of their lives. Deservedly.

@lannister80:

Except you ruin the headlight flashing warning system for people who actually appreciate it.

Mind your own beeswax busybody.

[ncfindoffender.com]

Yes, they are taking it seriously. In fact, I approve that Dominoes is suing them. This is the right thing to do because other food perps working at other establishments may learn something from this. Although I admit this is wishful thinking.

Exactly. What else might they have done? I don't even want to think about some of the other things that didn't make it onto the tape!

@downwithmonstercable: A Domino's lawsuit may not be overkill. As many have pointed out, Domino's and the franchise owner may have potentially lost some money over this in the form of lost sales, but in reality, if you are working at Domino's, you probably don't have a lot of extra cash hanging around, so there will be little if any financial incentive for Domino's to do this. What can Domino's gain you ask:

1) A public perception that they are taking this matter very seriously, and they are not trying to brush it under the rug. This will keep their loyal customers visiting their stores.

2) It will help deflect lawsuits that may be filed by patrons of this store who claim they were sickened by these foolish games. If Domino's comes down hard on these two, "honest" folks who may have purchased food from this store probably won't sue unless they actually became ill from eating the food (vs ill from the thought of what might have been in the food)

3) It sends a very clear example to their other employees that such action will not be tolerated, and you will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.

4) As part of a settlement you can make the dynamic duo issue a public appology and could make them work in a training video for future employees .

Removing the video cams from cop dashboards won't stop police and citizen abuse, though it WOULD shut down TruTV and SpikeTV..

Especially because this story is just getting wound up. It usually takes 3 days to a week for this kind of thing to get to TV media and when it does it will spread like wildfire. All the assurances in the world will not stop the hit that Domino's is about to take. Those two retards will go to jail and then be sued into oblivion by the corporation and the franchisee. Way to go retards, real funny video.

Their buffalo chicken pizza is actually pretty good and some of the oven-baked sandwiches are quite tasty. For an ordinary pepperoni pizza, local establishments (in my realm of experience usually) trump pizzeria chains.

I don't get the impression that Domino's is intentionally penalizing the store owner, nor should they. The act of shutting down the store and sterilizing it is in part about PR and in part about ensuring that the store is the best it can be, and I think it's a smart move both for PR and just simply good business; with people like that working there, who knows what else might have happened.

[ncfindoffender.com]

@Corporate-Shill:

Domino's as a chain (at least around me) are the best kept restaurants.

The health department publishes the ratings. The Domino's closest to me has never received less than a perfect score on the health department inspection. Most of the local Domino's score better than 95 out of 100 on a consistent basis.

You gotta realize that some of these score criteras have little to do with food prep. Things like emergency door releases for walk-in refrigerators. Whether the employee work areas meet ADA requirements. So scoring a 95 out of 100 on a consistent basis might actually be a perfect score with a permanent mark down for a building design failure.

So how would you like to be the manager that only scores a 94 when the previous manager scored 95s? Or 99 when the previous manager nailed 100s?

Something minor, like a muddy foot print on a customer door mat during a rainy day. One point markdown.

And now you got to explain to corporate why your store got less than a perfect score.

Ya know, in the old days, you farked over the pizza boss man and he hired a couple of his cousins (freshly arrived from the Old World) to take you out back and beat the living sheit out of ya.

If you were lucky, you lived through the beating and somebody forgot the quick set cement to finish your booties. If you weren't so lucky, you might have tried your skill at deep water holding your breath.

These days, I wonder if anybody at Domino's is still appropriately connected?

The other day I walked by a dominos pizza and thought "Ew gross, no way I'd eat there" but after watching this video, I do feel that corporate is going to put their boot down on most of their chains to clean up the act enough to warrant me to reconsider buying pizza from them.

@twophrasebark:

You're probably right about the community service though.. but at least they'll sweat it out for a bit before they get sentenced to it.

However, I don't think these numnutzes will have much of a paycheck to garnish...

Also, does Domino's do background check's? Would they have been left alone if the management knew the rap sheet Kristy has?

@krispykrink:
His next commercial should be of him beating the crap out of these felons with a lead pipe.

Agreed. But, he should make sure to put THAT on YouTube as well!

I'd tune in.

I spent three years working in food service myself. I have heard a lot of stories and seen a lot of incidents that make me leery of dining out. These range from not washing hands after...well...anything, to dropping food on the disgusting mopped-once-daily floor and throwing it back on grill. All of these incidents have involved teenagers/young adults who think themselves to be slaves to the rich since they work at a restaurant. It's insane.

Sidenote: That flashing disclaimer is incredible. What code did you use for that?

@Watergun: That was a very good response on Dominos part.

Basically, his mouth and body are saying two different things, and unfortunately it's been my experience that the body is usually telling the truth.

Maybe the manager was looking in the want ads for a better job!

I would expect that if I were a manager and I had people working for me who were IN THEIR THIRTIES, that they knew how to behave if I took a break in my office.

It's the perpetrators' obnoxious immaturity that is to blame, not the manager. The manager is not a babysitter.

Would YOU eat it?

In one video they mention that the manager is in the back reading newspapers, "as usual". Yet there is no mention of the manager getting in trouble for not supervising them.

I worked at a Wendy's a few years ago. Whenever the manager went away for any reason that is exactly when the teens started throwing hot patties, putting cup lids on burgers under the bun, and other grosser stuff. It all ended up with the manager getting fired for not "managing" his staff and letting them get away with this.

On the other hand, cooking in an oven is probably the least effective way of heat-killing microbes, and I bet stuff like the bread isn't heated to a temp that's going to reliably kill stuff. (It's the food temp, not the oven temp, that counts.)

Though on the other other hand, I think the odds of somebody actually getting sick from the stuff aren't that great--not much greater than if one of 'em sneezed when you were standing across the counter from them. It's not gross because it's certain illness spread, it's gross just because it's gross.

But I'm kind of in agreement on the "why sue?" question. I think there are better things that those resources could be devoted to.

I don't think you understand how criminal law works. Tampering with the mail is a felony too. You know those dimwit postal workers who get caught stealing Netflix DVDs. They almost all get fired, probation and community service. And those are people who are caught on video.

Making a video of making disgusting food... equals community service.

pic --> [i43.tinypic.com]

for SEXUAL BATTERY and is on PROBATION. I guess it sucks that she now has a warrant out for her arrest. =)

If anything, this will just teach kids to be more stealthy. Having spent many of my teenage years in restaurant jobs, I've heard horror stories (Disclaimer: I've never personally messed with someone's food) about food prep. It goes on more than anyone probably thinks (not that it's right or anything), and as long as these places keep hiring mid- to late-teens to work for them, they'll have the same irresponsibility.

@pecan 3.14159265: I bet you'd keep the muffin tops for yourself and give the stumps to the homeless, too.

@dohtem: They aren't making them scapegoats.

* I don't think Domino's is real pizza, but I'll take something free and give it to a homeless guy or something.

@wee0x1B: I have always told everyone that I'm running as a a write in candidate for 2018 (when I'm first eligible). The only law I want to enact is the "Stupidity Enforcement Act." Basically it would be a clause that would say that after the jury decides someone is guilty the jury would be called upon to decide if that person was also excessively stupid. If the person was found to be extrordinarily stupid they would receive a much higher penalty.

@twophrasebark: I doubt that they will serve any real prison time if this is their first offense. However, having a felony record while looking for a job can be a serious obstacle.

I'm not going to get too worked up about this. Here's why:

This people make me think of the Abu Gharaib guards, or some low level mortgage officer who is busted making fraudulent loans, or something like that. Some low level idiot who comits a crime that can be easily disseminated around the media is hung out to dry while all of the top level people whose actions demonstrably hurt the lives of thousands or millions tsk tsk them for being so bad.

The odds that eating a single booger would make you sick are pretty low. It's disgusting, sure, but not life threatening. The odds that eating this quality of food on a regular basis making you chronically sick and ultimately dieing earlier than your time are very, very high. Sure, this is clearly a crime - "tampering with food". But then, shouldn't the chief executives of most fast food chains as well as Monsanto, Coca Cola, etc. be charged with the same crime? Just like these dimwits, they are knowingly selling food that has been adulterated and can cause sickness or death.

To me, personally, that gloppy cheese stick in one of the videos looked like a giant booger anyway.

In addition, this incident has probably cost the franchise owner thousands of dollars; they may end up going out of business. (Of course, the franchise owner bears some responsibility for hiring this duo in the first place.)

Yeah, suing them is kind of a waste of time, since they likely have no money, but it won't hurt them for life either, other than the fact that they will have to declare Chapter 7 bankruptcy to make the judgment go away.

Is charging them with a felony and suing them punitive? Yes, as well it should be. These two were old enough to understand that actions have consequences. If you choose to be a 100% Pure Moron, these things happen.

@sasquatch28, dohtem: Well to each his own. I guess we see this differently.

As far as the employees, what exactly are they going to sue them for? They are probably not going to see any jail time. I do think laws for food tampering need to be more strict.

I do like how the president of the company did give a sincere apology about the two jackasses that pulled that stunt.

I'm no fan of Domino's but I have less than zero sympathy for the kind of scum who would filth up people's food on purpose. I don't care how badly they were paid or how much they were bullied by some high-school dropout of a manager. Food safety accidents happen, but when you deliberately put filth in someone's food you sign away at least some of your humanity.

@mariospants:
Sure cooking will kill the bacteria. However, cooking does not kill any toxins that the bacteria may have produced.

I think getting in an accident, as traumatic and dangerous as it is, does more for making people slow down voluntarily than getting pulled over does. Nobody finds the police intimidating any more, and I blame movies and the internet for that. </Jack Thompson-esqe rage>

You'd figure with the recent peanut butter scare a story like this would've gotten more attention . Well at least food safety got attention out of this crap .

If their boss was the one who set them off I want them exposed & dealt with too . If it comes out they did nothing wrong before this and the boss " pushed " them too far ... It still comes down to employee having the professionalism to at least walk away .

I hear other horror stories besides food safety coming from the restaurant industry including the way employees are hired and fired . Especially at the local or smaller chain level . I've worked in tourist areas with alot of restaurants and bars and yet it's just like getting a civil service job - you have to know someone . I hate to say it but in many areas the restaurant industry is very cult like if not clickish .

They almost live outside the rules . I guess all the tip/cash related jobs help perpetuate some of this type behavior and attitude . I heard a story where a manager found out that they had employees looking at other jobs and they were basically fired or let go for ' looking ' . I was told that's an accepted practice ? . Point being it seems like many restaurnat workers have their own code or rules .

But their code is quite literally not for public consumption .

A lawsuit? What are you going to get out of them? They work(ed) at Dominoes.

An arrest? doesn't really seem to serve any purpose

His next commercial should be of him beating the crap out of these felons with a lead pipe.

@Crabby Cakes: They definately weren't high schoolers but in their 30s ? wow ...

It ashame though to anyone who has a record and working honestly for their employer . Dominos was willing to give them a chance and they blew it .

So now you have Dominos , the food service industry and honest work seeking criminals under the gun for A PRANK .

Ironic that it was criminals who perpetrated this . I hope everyone learns from this as well .

Stupidity has a price.

I'm all for giving people a second chance but when you willingly tape and share this sort reprehensible behavior on the internet and then brag about it, you should deal with the fallout.

@PinkBox: Yeah, but I mean really. This stuff happens with people that work dead end jobs that pay nothing. Am I defending these two? No. But suing them and ruining their already sucky life just seems a little over the top. They should just be fired and blacklisted from working for Dominos or any subsidiary IMO. I know they're trying to send a message, but come on. At most, they should fine the employees for health code violations.

@summerbee: That's what scares me . I've heard the stories as well from the media and even relatives that work in the industry .

I've been saying this all along but they have to make an example of this . Seriously I want food tampering at level to become a federal offense if not just a felony .

Sometimes I think people talk for shock value or to show they can do anything want but with all the BS I'm sure there is truth . I see too many who ignore very important rules and procedures including ones for THEIR safety/job security and they're more interested/happy in showing how they got over on someone .

There are certain lines you simply don't cross and this is one of them . I gonna hammer this point to death . Food Tampering should be a major felony if not a terrorist offense .

It absolutely boggles my mind that in New York City, which has the best mom-and-pop pizza shops in the country, ignorant slobs actually buy the crap that Domino's sells.

(a) A person is guilty of sexual battery if the person, for the purpose of sexual arousal, sexual gratification, or sexual abuse, engages in sexual contact with another person:

(1) By force and against the will of the other person; or

(2) Who is mentally disabled, mentally incapacitated, or physically helpless, and the person performing the act knows or should reasonably know that the other person is mentally disabled, mentally incapacitated, or physically helpless.

(b) Any person who commits the offense defined in this section is guilty of a Class A1 misdemeanor. (2003‑252, s. 2.)

I'm putting my money on her violating option 2.

Unless I'm missing something, its just something they are saying to lessen the severity of their actions.

They're in their THIRTIES?!?! Come on now.

I seriously assumed they were much younger. I guess you don't have to be young to be stupid.

One guy said he worked at the Phillies' stadium and put "some time of bodily fluid" into the hot dog water. And they kept the same hot dog water all season long.

Don't get me wrong... I certainly hope Kristy and Michael's actions don't beat the company up too bad but we'll see.

I forgot to say kudos to the Dominos leadership and Patrick Doyle for responding and jumping all over this .

Yeah it's just PR but I hope this doesn't affect the honest,hardworking and professional employees of Dominos or anyone else in the food industry that doesn't do or tolerate this crap .

Kudos again !

Although he had to read the statement rather than make his opinions known off the top of his head, I appreciated Patrick Doyle's video and it definitely HAS increased my respect for his company. I will continue to buy Domino's pizza regardless of the video.

@downwithmonstercable: Think about it. Suing them will make it much less likely that another Dominos employee would think of doing the same thing.

When I see someone go speeding past me at 20 or 30 MPH over the speed limit, I hope with all my hope that they get pulled over further down the road. Twice in my life I've seen that happen.

I hoped that something would happen to these disgusting people to teach them a lesson. Maybe I'm just spiteful, but I'm happy these clowns are getting what they deserve.

I agree with the author : if anyone is holding a grudge find another job and don't screw the customers or your employer .

I don't care if your boss is a butthole or a customer didn't tip you . There are plenty of legal and much more professional ways to deal with problem bosses and customers . Form a union , file a complaint with a regulatory agency , tell your friends the place sucks ,sue - I don't care . But if you partake in criminal acts like this I don't want to hear any whining .

And if I find out this was done to me as a customer I would press charges , sue( at least the offending employee ) and then have their place of employment shut down .

I kinda feel bad for Dominos too, unfortunately I won't be able to support them because I like other pizza better.

I recommend involuntary sterilization for anyone who films and then publishes a movie of themselves performing a criminal act. The gene pool needs that kind of chlorine.

@Chris Walters: That's kinda what I was thinking. Although I think suing them might be a bit overkill.

"We're taking this INCREDIBLY seriously"