Possible Exposure to Hepatitis A at Dunkin Donuts

June 10, 2019, 02:19 PM

Fed161

So my wife is a regular customer at a local franchisee owned Dunkin Donuts. A hepatitis A infected worker there may have served my wife more than once. (The employee is no longer employed there.) The health department is strongly recommending an inoculation, and my wife is getting one now. (The cost is $97) As long as she doesn't get sick, I don't think it's unreasonable to ask for reimbursement for the inoculation from corporate. Not looking to sue (as long as she doesn't get sick). I'll send them a copy and see what happens. Anyone have any similar experiences?

June 10, 2019, 02:56 PM

tk13

A local Popeye's Chicken gave me exposure to hepatitis about 6 weeks ago. I got the shot at CVS, with no out of pocket. Obviously that could be due to differences in insurance coverage. Nonetheless, it couldn't hurt to ask.

June 10, 2019, 03:13 PM

ZSMICHAEL

Yep. It happened to be a hospital cafeteria worker and they provided a nurse to give injections.

I would send a brief letter asking for reimbursement for the shot. Just be sure to send it to the right person.

June 10, 2019, 03:28 PM

YooperSigs

Worth a stamp, maybe, But they can come back and say they had no knowledge of the workers health before the Hep was discovered and sorry bout the 97 bucks.
And if it comes to light they knew about his Hep and let him work anyway, it is quite possibly a criminal offense.

June 10, 2019, 04:19 PM

arfmel

I remember a time when food service workers had to have a “health card”.

June 10, 2019, 04:44 PM

LS1 GTO

quote:
Originally posted by ZSMICHAEL:
Yep. It happened to be a hospital cafeteria worker and they provided a nurse to give injections.

I would send a brief letter asking for reimbursement for the shot. Just be sure to send it to the right person.

With a copy of the receipt/invoice

June 10, 2019, 05:04 PM

ZSMICHAEL

quote:
Worth a stamp, maybe, But they can come back and say they had no knowledge of the workers health before the Hep was discovered and sorry bout the 97 bucks.
And if it comes to light they knew about his Hep and let him work anyway, it is quite possibly a criminal offense.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Yes they could buy a lot of bad publicity doing that. They can pay the bill without admitting fault, and perhaps create some goodwill.

June 10, 2019, 05:49 PM

Aeteocles

quote:
Originally posted by Fed161:
So my wife is a regular customer at a local franchisee owned Dunkin Donuts. A hepatitis A infected worker there may have served my wife more than once. (The employee is no longer employed there.) The health department is strongly recommending an inoculation, and my wife is getting one now. (The cost is $97) As long as she doesn't get sick, I don't think it's unreasonable to ask for reimbursement for the inoculation from corporate. Not looking to sue (as long as she doesn't get sick). I'll send them a copy and see what happens. Anyone have any similar experiences?

Are restaurants prohibited from hiring people with Hep A in your jurisdiction?

What makes you think your wife was exposed to it any more than normal?

So long as the Dunkin Donuts was enforcing it's food safety rules, including requiring employees to wash their hands before returning to work, I don't see how they would owe you anything...

June 10, 2019, 06:18 PM

BurtonRW

You should be able to file a claim with their liability carrier. I’ve never seen a commercial general liability policy that didn’t have a med-pay provision (no-fault, low cap, like PIP coverage on your auto insurance) which should certainly cover the $97. Unless the adjuster is an idiot.

-Rob

June 10, 2019, 06:40 PM

ZSMICHAEL

quote:
What makes you think your wife was exposed to it any more than normal?

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
????? What is normal exposure for Hepatitis A? I do not expect fecal matter with my donuts on a regular basis. Your experience may differ.LOL

June 10, 2019, 07:01 PM

V-Tail

quote:
Originally posted by Aeteocles:

What makes you think your wife was exposed to it any more than normal?

quote:
From the Original Post:
The health department is strongly recommending an inoculation

June 10, 2019, 07:41 PM

Fed161

Some good points to consider, in particular contacting the franchisee's liability carrier if their corporate office doesn't respond. Like I said in my post, I'm not looking to make this a pay day for "pain and suffering." I would think that the company or franchisee would want to keep a long time customer happy for public relations reasons alone, especially since we would be made whole for a mere $97. The health department did recommend that all customers get a Hep A shot.

June 10, 2019, 07:54 PM

V-Tail

quote:
Originally posted by ZSMICHAEL:

I do not expect fecal matter with my donuts on a regular basis.

Well, it is Dunkin' Donuts, after all.

Now if it were Krispy Kreme, we would expect a clean, quality product.

June 10, 2019, 08:34 PM

Fed161

quote:
Originally posted by V-Tail:
quote:
Originally posted by ZSMICHAEL:

I do not expect fecal matter with my donuts on a regular basis.
Well, it is Dunkin' Donuts, after all.

Now if it were Krispy Kreme, we would expect a clean, quality product.

I never eat or drink anything from Dunkin Donuts. That's why my wife needed the shot, and I did not. I'm more health conscious than she is, which is part of the reason why I don't patronize DD. There are no Krispy Kreme stores anywhere close by. I do admit that I have eaten a few donuts at Krispy Kreme when I have had to travel. Damn their donuts are good.

June 11, 2019, 12:07 AM

bubbatime

Are they testing the employee now? Hearing a lot about this lately... I bet this is WAY more wide spread than we realize.

And they would definitely be paying for the shot. If not, blow up their Twitter account.

June 11, 2019, 01:48 AM

V-Tail

quote:
Originally posted by Fed161:

I never eat or drink anything from Dunkin Donuts.

I drink coffee at home, and I sometimes take some with me in a Thermos type mug. If I am out and about and have not brought coffee with me from home, both Dunkin' Donuts and McDonads (believe it or not) sell a premium coffee that's fairly decent. Way better than the Starbucks crap, and much more reasonably priced.

If I want a donut type thing, Taco Bell has little golf ball cinnamon pastry things that are good.

June 11, 2019, 10:30 AM

Timdogg6

quote:
ou should be able to file a claim with their liability carrier. I’ve never seen a commercial general liability policy that didn’t have a med-pay provision (no-fault, low cap, like PIP coverage on your auto insurance) which should certainly cover the $97. Unless the adjuster is an idiot.-Rob

Send it to them but I would make sure you do not sign a release for a $97 check.

__________________________
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June 11, 2019, 02:38 PM

rtquig

How did you find out the employee had Hepatitis? Just curious.

June 11, 2019, 09:17 PM

RAMIUS

quote:
Originally posted by rtquig:
How did you find out the employee had Hepatitis? Just curious.

https://www.foxnews.com/health...s-a-customers-warned

June 12, 2019, 09:44 AM

kz1000

That wasn't chocolate frosting...

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