McDonald's Manager Fired After Teen's Viral Meltdown
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- It's video that's gone viral, and it was shot inside a Twin Cities fast food restaurant.
It shows a McDonald's worker behind the counter having a complete meltdown.
Cellphone video captured what happened late Saturday night inside the McDonald's in St. Paul's Midway Shopping Center.
What's even more shocking is who was fired after the incident.
Brandon Robertson is the man seen in the video trying to get an explosive 17-year-old McDonald's employee to calm down and leave.
"He was irate, he was upset. He was breaking coffee pots. He was turning over sauces," Robertson said.
He is the overnight manager and has been with McDonald's for five years -- that is until he was fired on Monday.
He says management told him they didn't like the way he handled the incident.
"I asked him to leave as you can see in the video. I asked him to leave. What was I supposed to do?" he said.
Robinson says because the worker who trashed the place is under the age of 18, he refrained from any physical contact.
"I feel like it was unfair because I did what I could. I mean, he's 17 years old. I would be in jail as of right now if I would've put my hands on him. He's a minor, so what was I supposed to do?" Robinson said.
He says he called out to other managers and workers to call 911, and they did. But by the time officers arrived, the teen had left.
The owner of this McDonald's location -- Courtney Henry -- issued a written statement where she apologized to customers who witnessed the outburst, and adding this: "While it is inappropriate to publicly discuss personnel matters, rest assured that we took the appropriate action to address the entire matter and not just what was seen on video."
The video has now been viewed online, and around the world.
"Everyone's talking about it, it's like I'm the bad guy," Robinson said. "I did what I could."
Robinson says he filed for unemployment on Tuesday, and he had a job interview.
He also says he's not sure what set off the teenager, but believes he was having problems at home.
Robinson thinks the video of the outburst was recorded by a young man who may be a friend of that worker.