HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Troy Smith said he recently recorded a video of a rat inside a Burger King in Broward County. He said it as one of many. Another rat he didn’t record, he said, was about 6-inches long.
Smith said he recorded the video while working at the fast-food restaurant at 1030 West Hallandale Beach Blvd., just east of Interstate 95, in Hallandale Beach.
“We can’t work around this,” Smith said.
After he complained to a manager about the restaurant’s rodent problem and threatened to report the problem to the Local 10 News Dirty Dining team, the manager fired him.
Smith shared the video saying he wanted “to help the community.”
Local 10 News sent it to state authorities. Inspectors showed up announced only to find a dead rat, rodent droppings, roaches, flying insects, and no proof of required state training for employees.
Smith said he wasn’t surprised and the restaurant has yet to pay him for the hours he worked. Meanwhile, the manager threatened Smith and told him to take the video down from social media.
The leadership of Seven Restaurants, LLC, which owns and operates the restaurant, refused to comment on this story. Burger King released a statement: “We have been made aware of the reports associated with this location and are working quickly with the franchisee to better understand the situation.”
Inspectors allowed the restaurant to reopen following an ordered cleanup and then a reinspection.